Vancouver Public Library Board of Trustees

The trustees are responsible for:

Developing of library policy
Spending City Council-approved funds for library purposes
Directing library system operations through the chief librarian

Terms of reference

The Provincial Library Act enables the delivery of public library service in British Columbia.

Read the Provincial Library Act

Meeting frequency

The board of trustees meets on the fourth Wednesday of each month at the Central Library downtown, not including July and August. Committees of the Board meet in the week prior to the Board meeting.

Time commitment

In addition to board meetings (about 3 hours) and committee meetings (1 to 2 hours).

Agendas are circulated prior to each meeting and provide background for discussion.
Annual orientation sessions and tours are provided for new Board members.
Board and committee chairs attend an extra meeting as members of the Board's Governance Committee.

A trustee is appointed to each of the following:

InterLINK Board, a consortium representing the 18 libraries
VPL Foundation Board
Liaison to the Friends of VPL
VPL Trust

In addition to attending board meetings, trustees are expected to represent the VPL Board at a variety of community events and programs.

Learn more about the Board: https://www.vpl.ca/about/board

Membership

The Vancouver Public Library Board of Trustees consists of 11 members, representing these groups:

10 residents (two-year terms)
1 City Councillor (one-year term)

All members may be reappointed, but no member may be appointed for more than eight consecutive years.

Prospective Trustees

Under the Library Act, all members are appointed by City Council. To be eligible to serve on the Board, applicants must be residents or electors of Vancouver, and must not be employees of the City of Vancouver or the Library. If you are appointed to the Board and your eligibility status changes during your term, you are required to notify the Board Chair immediately and resign your seat.

Board meetings include a Park Board Commissioner and Vancouver School Board trustee appointed as liaisons.

An information session for prospective trustees will be held at 6:00 pm on Thursday, September 18, 2025 via MS Teams. Please RSVP to board@vpl.ca by September 15, 2025 if interested.

For more information, see Information-Package-for-Prospective-VPL-Library-Trustees.pdf