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Susan Parkinson, Director of Library Services

Yellowhead Regional Library provides services to 303,695 Albertans in 54 municipalities and 10,822 students in three school divisions. Our priority is to provide quality library services to our 43 municipal and 43 school libraries. We continuously strive to be responsive to the needs of our members. 

Our headquarters is located in Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada.

Creating shared value

Yellowhead Regional Library’s (YRL) commitment to its member libraries is an active, ongoing approach that seeks to enrich the collections, resources and services offered to Albertans in the Yellowhead Region.

Simply put, YRL is always growing, learning and sourcing new resources to help make each member library the best it can be.

Find out more

The Regional Automation Consortium

TRAC (The Regional Automation Consortium) is a partnership of Marigold Library System, Northern Lights Library System, Peace Library System, Yellowhead Regional Library, and their member libraries. Using TRACpac you can search a combined catalogue of over 170 libraries with holdings of nearly three million books, DVDs and other material.

TRAC also participates in Alberta-wide borrowing through ME Libraries. Patrons registered through ME Libraries may borrow materials from any TRAC library, subject to local policies and lending periods.

The libraries within TRAC wish to acknowledge Treaty 6, Treaty 7, and Treaty 8 territory, as well as the Métis Nation of Alberta. The TRAC libraries are located on territory that provided a travelling route and home to many Indigenous peoples.

In the 1990s libraries across Alberta faced a number of challenges and opportunities, including the information explosion, the development of new technologies, the emergence of the Internet and a changing government philosophy.

A grassroots response to these challenges led to the creation of The Alberta Library (TAL) in 1997. Internationally recognized for cooperation and collaboration, TAL is a province-wide consortium that now serves 48 member libraries in over 300 locations across the province, including:

• public libraries
• regional library systems
• university libraries
• college, and technical institute libraries
• special libraries

Member libraries work together to take advantage of changing technologies, find creative solutions and seize new opportunities. As a result, Albertans at even the smallest library have access to more than 30 million resources.

Our library contributes to the well-being and health of our community by providing information, supporting literacy, and bringing people together. Because of our participation in the Yellowhead Regional Library System, our library is a single access point to millions of movies, books, CDs, DVDs, events, and more.

The Calmar Public Library strives to serve our community by breaking down barriers and increasing access to ideas, information, and materials. The library is an essential service that connects people and inspires learning.

• Intellectual Freedom
• Literacy & Lifelong Learning
• Service & Organizational Excellence
• Innovation
• Community Collaboration
• Accessibility & Inclusiveness

Placing Holds

If an item from the TRAC catalogue (including those belonging to the Calmar Public Library) is signed out to another patron, you are able to place a hold on that item. To place a hold request:

• Talk to library staff in person, via email, or by calling 780-985-3472
• Request online by visiting www.tracpac.ab.ca and logging into your account

Inter-Library Loans

Can't find an item in the TRAC catalogue? You can search for items from other library systems (both public and academic) in the province using Alberta Relais, the new way to place Inter-Library Loan (ILL) requests in Alberta! This service is brought to you by the Alberta Public Library Services Branch (PLSB). To access Relais, visit alberta.relaisd2d.com and select Yellowhead Regional Library as your location.

Please note that any items ordered through Relais must be returned to the same library that you select as a pick-up location at the time a request is placed.

ME Libraries

Alberta wide borrowing is here! ME Libraries lets you join other public libraries across Alberta and borrow their materials using ONE library card. Make the most of your library card and access more items for free!

Introduction

The Yellowhead Regional Library is a consortium of 43 public and 43 school libraries. This statement addresses your online privacy and access to information through the Yellowhead Regional Library's headquarters Integrated Library System (ILS) and website.

The Yellowhead Regional Library Board and staff are subject to the Libraries Act and Regulation R.S.A. 2000 Chap. L-11 and the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIP), and uphold the Canadian Federation of Library Associations’ (CFLA) Statement on Intellectual Freedom and Libraries.

The Yellowhead Regional Library Board’s bylaws and policies are publicly available, including its Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIP) bylaw and Information Technology policy.

Collection and Disclosure of Personal Information

The System only collects the amount of personal information needed to conduct library services and programs. Personally identifiable information contained in the patron record includes:

• Name
• Address
• Phone number(s)
• Email address

Patron records with charges below the defined threshold are purged after they have been expired for two years.

The System does not collect personal information for commercial marketing or distribution to private organizations. The System will only disclose personal information:

a. to law enforcement in response to a court order, such as a warrant, subpoena, or other legal compulsion.

b. in partnership with other Alberta libraries and library systems for the purposes of sharing materials under conditions defined in existing resource sharing agreements and programs (e.g. interlibrary loan agreements, TAL Card, ME Libraries), collecting fees or fines, and retrieving borrowed materials.

c. for the purpose of contacting next of kin or emergency response personnel in the case of an
emergency.

Tracking and Security

Cookies – When you visit a website it may deposit a piece of data, called a web cookie, with the temporary web browser files on your computer. If you wish, you can change the settings on your web browser to deny cookies, or to warn you when a site is about to deposit cookies on your hard drive.

Encryption – The System’s website links patrons to their My Account on TRACpac and Relais for borrowing purposes. These consortia use encryption during the login process/transmission of a patron’s library card, username, and PIN.

eResources – The System subscribes to various databases found under the eResources tab of the System’s and our libraries’ websites. The administrative software of the databases may identify individual patron barcodes with specific titles read, however the System only uses the information anonymously to aggregate usage by patron’s registered library. The System does not analyze individual patron usage. Users may read the databases’ privacy policies on their home pages.

External Links – The System’s website links to other websites and eResources that may collect personal information. Users should review the privacy policies of these sites before providing them with personal data.

Reading History – Patrons can save their reading histories on TRACpac. These lists are private unless the patron chooses to share them, and the System will not share these lists, except when in response to a law enforcement court order, such as a warrant, subpoena, or other legal compulsion.

SimplyReports – The System utilizes SimplyReports software to pull data from the ILS in order to create custom reports and to assist with identifying recent borrowers of a lost or damaged library item. This information can only be drawn for the last five borrowers of an item and is only used for the stated purpose of retrieving missing pieces, missing items, and to invoice for damage or loss.

Usage Statistics – The System uses Google Analytics to discover usage of the System’s and our libraries’ websites. Google Analytics uses cookies. Users may read Google Analytics’ policies.

Parental Responsibility for Minors

Yellowhead Regional Library does not act in loco parentis. Parents and legal guardians take responsibility for what their children access on and through the System’s website. No age restrictions or filters apply to the System’s databases, eResources, or links to external sites, and the System’s Internet access is not filtered.

Programs and Events

Online Forms and Electronic Communication with System Staff – The System may provide online forms for facilitating services or resource acquisition suggestions. These forms will require some user personal information. The System will gather only the personal information necessary to facilitate the registration or request, and the personal information will not be used for any other purpose. Personal information provided to System staff through any other electronic communications, such as email, text, etc. will be used only to facilitate the request submitted.

Social Media

The System may provide access to social media. Users posting comments to the System’s social media should be aware of the public nature of such posts and of their responsibility to exercise caution when sharing personally identifiable information over social media.

These are the terms of use