Peace Library System, Grande Prairie, AB

Background In 1986, 21 municipalities formed a partnership that created Peace Library System (PLS). They believed access to library services should be equal and universal. They wanted to ensure the patrons in small, rural libraries had the same high-quality library service enjoyed in larger, urban centres. Funding for Peace Library System is provided by municipalities, member library boards, the province, and bycontracts-for-service with a number of school authorities. The Peace Library System service area covers over 92, 000 square miles (24 million hectares) with a current member population of over 153, 000 in 38 municipalities. Peace Library System is working to ensure that its member libraries remain the essential information centers of their coumunities. Alberta Library Systems Peace Library System is part of a province wide network of seven regional and two urban systems. The seven regional systems were created by legal agreements between cooperating municipalities. The intent is to enhance local library services and to cooperate and assist in resource sharing among all libraries in Alberta. The Regional Automation Consortium (TRAC) Four of the library systems - Marigold, Northern Lights, Peace and Yellowhead - are partners in a consortium to share library automation software and a common borrowing card. Through this dynamic partnership, over 160 public libraries share over three million items.