Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. I am pleased to introduce Bill 7, An Act to Amend the Student Financial Assistance Act. That’s the first one, right? The purpose of...Sorry. I got the wrong one.

I am pleased to introduce Bill 4, Public Library Act. The purpose of this legislation is to provide a modern statutory framework governing the establishment and use of public libraries in the Northwest Territories and to repeal the Library Act.

The Library Act was originally enacted in 1966 and has never been amended to reflect changes in how public library services in the Northwest Territories are administered. The Department of Education, Culture and Employment initiated a review of the Library Act in 2007 and released a consultation paper entitled Proposed Amendments to the Library Act: A Consultation Paper. There were a number of responses to the paper from different stakeholders in the library community, including two municipalities, GNWT and Aurora College library staff, and the NWT Library Association. The general

consensus from the stakeholders was that they supported the legislative changes proposed in the consultation paper.

This bill provides an updated regulatory framework from which the operation of public libraries in the Northwest Territories will be supported. In particular, this bill provides for:

a) the ability of the Minister to designate a library

as a public library and enter into agreements with local authorities to support the operation of public libraries;

b) the rights of library users, including the right to

use specified library materials and resources without payment of a fee;

c) the powers of library authorities to set and

enforce rules for use of the library and its materials; and,

d) to repeal of the Library Act.

We trust that the members of the committee will agree that the proposed bill represents a significant improvement in the manner in which public libraries are regulated in the Northwest Territories. We would be pleased to answer any questions the Members may have.