The Joyce Cunningham Award is given to a Public Library Board, or two Public Library Boards that participated in a collaborative effort, that has demonstrated a high level of collaboration and innovation that produces an outstanding result, exemplary within the province.
A high-performance Public Library Board can be defined as a group of people with specific roles and complementary talents and skills, aligned with and committed to a common purpose, and who consistently show high levels of collaboration and innovation to produce superior or trailblazing results. The Board may also be defined as courageous leaders who are defending the values of Intellectual Freedom and the rights of readers.