OTTAWA – At the Ottawa Public Library (OPL) Board meeting on May 10, 2022, Chair Luloff announced that OPL Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Danielle McDonald is retiring in November 2022.
Danielle’s retirement marks the end of a significant and remarkable 35 year career in municipal public service both at the City of Ottawa and at Ottawa Public Library. In her role as the CEO of OPL for more than 10 years, Danielle has provided strategic leadership and guidance in the administration of OPL’s departments, programs, and services in accordance with policies and plans established by the Board of Trustees.
Over her library career, Danielle has led significant initiatives in facilities planning and development. She led the Ottawa Central Library development project, marking significant milestones. Most recently, obtaining City Council and OPL Board approval for the construction of Ādisōke, a very exciting city-building project to bring a unique, landmark destination to Ottawa. Danielle led the transformation of converting all OPL’s 33 branches to a new customer service delivery model called Single Point of Service (SPOS) in conjunction with a system-wide technology overhaul to radio frequency identification (RFID) technology.
Danielle has been a member of the Order of Ottawa Selection Committee, and represented the library at the municipal, provincial, and federal level. She has also been an active member of a number of industry committees including Canadian Urban Libraries Council (CULC/CBUC), Urban Libraries Council (ULC), and Chief Executives of Large Urban Public Libraries of Ontario (CELUPL).
The OPL Board has announced that they have begun working with an executive recruitment firm to identify OPL’s next CEO, and plan to begin the recruitment process in the coming weeks.