About the Nova Scotia Provincial Library

The Nova Scotia Provincial Library provides leadership in coordinating library services throughout Nova Scotia, and promotes library cooperation at national, regional and provincial levels by engaging in the following activities:

• providing funding support to regional public libraries through various grant programs
• providing centralized technical services (receiving, cataloguing, and processing of materials) to support regional public libraries
• providing leadership at both provincial and national levels on matters affecting libraries, e.g. copyright legislation, information policy initiatives, partnerships with stakeholders in the knowledge industries, etc.
• coordinating cooperation and resource sharing projects among all types of libraries. Nova Scotia has been a Canadian leader in resource sharing since 1951 and is still the best in the country.
• developing and maintaining a high quality database for Nova Scotia regional public libraries
• providing specialized services to libraries in the areas of Information Services, Talking Books, Multilingual Service, Professional Literature Awareness Service, Interlibrary Loan Location Service and Coordination of Services to Children and Young Adults
• providing expert consultation and training to regional public libraries

Nova Scotia Provincial Library is part of the Nova Scotia Department of Education, Policy Branch. It is not a lending library and is not a public library, instead it serves as a coordinating body for the Regional Library system in Nova Scotia.

NcompasS:

NcompasS is a multi-faceted, integrated automated library system and network with a province-wide vision involving cooperative planning and a desire to position the Nova Scotia regional library system at the leading edge of information technology.

VISION:

• Every Nova Scotian will have access to the information resources of all publicly funded libraries in the province from his or her preferred location, though an integrated system of partnerships among all types of information providers.
• This should be accomplished within a framework that support local initiative and local autonomy. The aim is to maximize local control while minimizing costs, and to provide an easy-to-use, timely and comprehensive service.