The Ford government has libraries all across Ontario seeing their funding cut in half.
Ontario Library Service North and South, which delivers programs and services to provincial libraries, are seeing their budgets reduced by 50 per cent.
Kapuskasing Public Library CEO Julie Latimer says they serve every library in the province regardless of size.
Latimer says the OLS both north and south offer skills development and advisory, as well as online website training. They also offer rotating book pools, govern resources to the board and manage and negotiate contracts with vendors for non-print resources, making e-books possible.
She also says they provide a very important service called the ‘inter-library loan program’ that allows local members to access audio and e-books from other libraries, however, that has now been cut.
“One of the biggest cuts will be the inter-library services which are gone, which means that you can no longer access other library’s collections, and library collections are public. So that is a huge fact that has been taken away from all library patrons, not just in Kapuskasing, everywhere.”
Latimer says the government has basically cut library accessibility and just today she had to turn someone away.
“It’s like the government has cut the accessibility to libraries by taking this away by taking this program away, and just this morning I had someone come in with their sheets to get some books from another library and I had to tell them the bad news that we can no longer access other libraries now.”
She is encouraging library patrons to contact their local MPP’s, as well as to join their Change.org petition to stop cuts to library services.
“A petition has been started on Change.org to stop these cuts to the library services and we ask everyone to sign it please and make as much ruckus as you can.”
Latimer says books and learning is something that should be done throughout a person’s life, whether fiction or non-fiction, education is key and that is what we help to provide at the library.
You can follow the link to the petition here.
