- by Anne Finlay-Stewart, Editor

When we discuss the impact of changes to library services, I remember Sydenham Community School in the Mike Harris years. Several mothers, all of us educated and under-employed, volunteered in the school library. We worried that we were just reinforcing the government’s view that there was no need for professional teacher-librarians in schools because volunteers could fill the role.

We stayed, not because of our own children – most read well beyond grade level and had substantial collections of books. No, we stayed for the students who were supported by the French teacher who worked .2 of her schedule in the library.

I remember when a classmate of my son's bounced into the library with a book in his hand. “I finished another one!” he said, beaming ear to ear.  After he had left, eager to start his next book, the teacher said to me, “I spent a lot of the budget on that high-interest, low-vocabulary series he's reading. I bought it with him in mind – to see that success.”

I looked that "boy" up today. I even read something he wrote. He is a husband and a father, has a good job, and he is doing fine. Well done, teacher.

School libraries in Ontario never really recovered. Only 54% of elementary schools have teacher librarians (44% in small town and rural schools) compared to 80% in 1998. Only 10% of those are full-time.

Now it is the public libraries, who filled those gaps, that are feeling the strain. Services on which they depend to provide equity of access, especially in smaller rural, northern and indigenous communities, have had their budgets cut dramatically.

Stephen Abram, Executive Director of the  Federation of Ontario Public Libraries, wrote today:

"On a personal note, it has been helpful to receive the first-hand experiences that many of you have shared about the impact of interlibrary loan in your communities. We’ve heard from students, book clubs, entrepreneurs, business owners, researchers, and residents everywhere in Ontario. Perhaps none have so effectively demonstrated how this foundational service has the power to change lives as this experience shared by Sheri Mishibinijima at Wikwemikong First Nation Public Library, which I’m proud to share:

"I had the pleasure of assisting a concerned parent of a Grade 2 student. The student was not reading at the grade level. This parent comes to the library for assistance, and the library did not have the leveled reading books on shelf. We suggested Interlibrary Loan and the parent says “what is that?” We explained that this is a free service where the library borrows from another lending library at no cost to the First Nation library nor parent.

In the end, the student received an abundance of books to assist with the jump start to their reading level. In the end, this one student received 15 books from 15 libraries north and south that assisted her in reading! If this service is not available, and recognizing the book budget that the First Nations do not have, this is going to be a sad case for children who will not be able to meet the expectation of reading level at any grade.”

This story was so familiar, two decades and three Premiers later.  If they are not funded now, these services will not be restored, and the gaps will grow larger.

Full details of the frontline impacts on our libraries and patrons of every age can be found here.