She’s leaving the PPL
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[Previously]
Jackie Flowers Director and CEO In May, 2020, Jackie Flowers became the CEO and Director of Public Libraries at the Pickering Public Library in Pickering in May, 2020, replacing former head, Cathy Grant.
Prior to her current position, Flowers was an executive in the City of Calgary’s library system where she led the organization’s innovation efforts, managing numerous teams and projects using a design-thinking framework. Her accomplishments include:
- designing a unique learning space for school-aged children,
- establishing partnerships with universities
- launching a bookmobile service to reach underserved communities.
Flowers’ background also includes experience as a Certified Public Accuntant at Deloitte, which has equipped her with strong financial acumen in her new role in the PPL. This combination of visionary leadership and financial expertise positions her well to guide the Pickering Public Library into the future.
Responding to posed questions The Pickering Public Library launched its 2024-2027 strategic plan last year. Our strategic plan acts as both a map and a route for the organization. It considers the big picture and provides focus around our goals. The process of updating a new strategic plan is rooted in community consultation. We work hard to find out what is important to residents so that we can work together on solutions, outcomes and new initiatives to build the future we want for Pickering. For our new strategic plan, this process took eight months to complete and involved over 1,600 community members. We all know that Pickering is a strong and resilient community. And in the next 10 years, we must be future-oriented – we’re a fast-growing city in a changing world. We have to embrace technology and champion community-centered innovation. The Pickering Public Library will continue to offer access to technology and learning opportunities to ensure everyone has the skills and tools to thrive in a digital world. I encourage everyone to stop by our Maker Space to try out a new piece of equipment or book a ‘1-on-1’ Device Assistance appointment to get help with a piece of technology you own. And as the changes in our digital lives happen, we cannot forget about our IRL (“in real life”) connections to one another. These relationships need to be valued and nurtured as they underpin much of our wellness.
The Pickering Public Library strives to create a caring culture that promotes social connection, combats loneliness, and helps connect people to the services and support they need. For this reason, we will continue to invest in our library locations to ensure they are fresh, inclusive, welcoming, accessible and safe.
Pickering Library is proud of these numbers:
- 1000: Every day, over 1,000 people visit a library location.
- 40,000: Over 40,000 community members have library cards – an increase of 3,000 people from the previous year.
- 21,000: More than 21,000 people participated in 900 free library events that happened in the library and out in the community.
- 977,000: More than 977,000 items were borrowed – whether that’s books, DVDs, or one of our loanable Maker Kits.
Pickering Public Library’s 2024 initiatives We launched our new bookmobile, ‘Ovee,’ and are now able to take Library services outside our buildings to new and underserved communities
- We updated the lobby of the Central Library so that there was more social space for library clients
- We successfully piloted a Prayer Room at the Central Library during Ramadan o We opened 4 solo work pods at the Central Library to allow for quiet work
- We launched the Seed Library at the George Ashe Library location and distributed 5,500 seed packets into the community.
Pickering Library, today and tomorrow The Pickering Public Library is proud of its record of service to the City of Pickering community and is committed to continuing the endeavours in the upcoming years. We welcome everyone in Pickering to join us a let us serve you today, and tomorrow.
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Executives at the PPL are preparing a final word about CEO Jackie Flowers and her departure. We will publish what we receive when we receive it.
