Canadian Urban Libraries Council (CULC) / Conseil des Bibliothèques Urbaines du Canada (CBUC)
The Canadian Urban Libraries Council / Conseil des Bibliothèques Urbaines du Canada (CULC/CBUC) was formally incorporated in 2008. CULC/CBUC members are the 54 largest public library systems in Canada, along with Library and Archives Canada and the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec. For more than 25 years CULC/CBUC has met, and worked under different names to better library service in Canada’s populated urban areas.
CULC/CBUC’s mission is to facilitate advocacy, collaboration, and research that strengthens and promotes the value of Canada’s urban libraries as integral to a vibrant democracy, a strong economy, and thriving communities.
- Research: Create, analyze, and disseminate information that will further the mission of the organization.
- Capacity Building: Strengthen the capacity of urban libraries to anticipate and respond to the needs of the community.
- Knowledge Transfer and Exchange: Strengthen our ability to transfer knowledge, share information with CULC/CBUC, and to advance the urban agenda.
- Organizational Resiliency: Focus on capacity building initiatives in order to strengthen the resources required for the organization to meet its mandate.
CULC/CBUC is committed to the strengthening of vibrant urban communities through building the capacity of Canada’s urban libraries. Our members collectively serve more than 8 million active users who annually visit our 727 locations and virtual services. In 2019 we loaned over 200 million items, and had more than 560 million uses in person and online. CULC/CBUC member libraries expended over $110 million on collections including $11 million on digital resources. More than 12,000 library workers are employed by CULC/CBUC member libraries.
More than 77% of all Canadians are served by a CULC/CBUC member library. The activity in CULC/CBUC libraries comprises more than 80% of Canada’s public library activity.
CULC/CBUC members are proud of the role libraries play in providing welcoming places that provide critical services in Canadian communities that meet the needs of children, youth, seniors, new Canadians, and the unemployed.