Award winning librarian and C.E.O. of the Bruce County Public Library, Marzio Apolloni, has announced his retirement at the October meeting of Bruce County Council. The effective date will be March 31^st, 2012. Apolloni indicated that he will have been with the Bruce County Public Library for 23 years. Together with other library positions he will have spent 30 years in public libraries. In his report to Council Apolloni attributed the success of the Bruce County Public Library to the relationship between Bruce County Council, the Bruce County Public Library Board and the library, and further suggested that this arrangement is the envy of many. He expressed his desire that this relationship continues, and reminded Council that the staff of the library is their greatest resource, and it was their dedication which had allowed him to become involved in larger issues at the provincial level. Marzio Apolloni also indicated he would like to stay involved with the Bruce Remembers project, and that should an opportunity arise, he be considered to represent & voice the needs of rural libraries in Ontario.

Apolloni has long been an advocate of rural libraries and worked through different organizations in which he took a leadership role. For 2 years he was the Chair of the Federation of Ontario Public Libraries as well as a representative of the Rural Caucus on the Federation’s Board of Directors. As well he served as President for 3 consecutive terms on the Ontario Library Consortium, a collective organization whose goal is to bring cutting edge library automation technology to rural libraries, and served in other positions on the executive. During his tenure with Bruce County Public Library, he has lobbied and advocated for rural libraries continuously, resulting in significant funding for rural libraries over the past 5 years.

Mr. Apolloni has indicated that while he may be in retirement, he has asked the Board to keep him in mind should an opportunity arise for a representative to voice the needs of rural libraries in Ontario. Meanwhile, he can be found fishing, working with groups in his community, and using his local library branch.