OPL provides the majority of its services via one of its 33 branches across the City of Ottawa or from its virtual branch. The Library also offers alternative services to 20% of Ottawa's population in several neighborhoods using different delivery mechanisms such as bookmobile stops, kiosks, and homebound services. Faced with increasing demand and no additional resources, the framework provides a transparent, equitable, rational process for both reviewing existing alternative services to ensure effectiveness, efficiency and responsiveness, as well as evaluating requests for additional bookmobile stops and new kiosk locations.

The framework sets key parameters that must be met for each service location according to delivery mechanisms (bookmobile - large and small, and kiosks). Parameters include: population served, service power (an aggregate measure that looks at various socio-economic parameters in a particular area, such as low income population, number of rental units, etc.), potential partnerships, location, and usage. Existing locations and new service requests can be stress tested against the framework to objectively evaluate the viability of existing and future service locations. A unique document that can be replicated/adapted for use in public libraries of various sizes!

In April 2016, the OPL Board approved the addition of two new bookmobile stop locations and the decommissioning of one stop based on the application of the framework. The framework also allowed OPL to optimize many of the existing stop locations. It is anticipated that the new bookmobile schedule will increase usage and will better meet the needs of the customers who rely on alternative services for library services. The framework provides a holistic approach for optimizing current services and equitably evaluating new requests for services to better meet the customers’ needs.