A two-decades long funding freeze for local libraries may not see a thaw for weeks to come as Ontario’s Conservative government works its way through a line-by-line audit of the former Liberal government’s spending.
The Liberals' spring 2018 budget earmarked a $51-million hike in annual funding over three years to Ontario’s 300 public libraries — a top-up on base provincial funding that hasn’t changed in more than 20 years. Ontario’s support of libraries in 1996 was cut in half under then-premier Mike Harris’ new Conservative government.
Now, an independent inquiry ordered by the new Ford government into the Liberals’ past accounting practices has just wrapped up, the results of which show a $15-billion deficit that “will require everyone to make sacrifices, without exception”, Ontario Finance Minister Vic Fedeli was reported to have said Friday.
But before any money flows out of Queen’s Park, all government departments including the Tourism, Culture and Sport Ministry under which library funding falls, must at first complete its own internal review.
“The ministry is aware that the funding was allocated in the Liberals’ budget,” Ontario Library Association executive director Shelagh Paterson said. “We’re waiting to find out now. We’re still hopeful that the funds will be there. We really need that funding.”
The Town of Newmarket and Newmarket Public Library board in March called on the province to provide more funding in its spring budget.
In its resolution sent to the ministry, the Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs, the local MPP, the Ontario Library Association and the Federation of Ontario Public Libraries, it urges the province to do the following:
- Recognize the contribution of local libraries within their communities and to cease the 20-year budget freeze;
- Reinstate adequate and appropriate funding for local libraries, increasing each year going forward in line with the consumer price index and;
- Commit funds to a shared and efficient Ontario Digital Library to provide equitable online service to all Ontarians.
The lion’s share of local library funding has come from the municipalities, and it places a burden on them, Paterson said. Overall, library funding includes a mix of provincial and municipal money based on population, but municipalities have been picking up about 96 per cent of total operating costs.
In the Town’s 2018 capital and operating budget of $127.9 million, $4 million was allocated to Newmarket Public Library.
In addition to the promised $51-million boost for Ontario’s local libraries, the Liberals’ 2018 budget included about $30 million to create a new provincial Digital Public Library that would provide free access to e-books, audiobooks and digital databases and learning resources across the province.
At Newmarket Public Library, there were more than 700 borrows this past April, mostly e-books and audio, according to a library board report on its Hoopla digital media service. On average, there are 60 new members each month.
The Tourism, Culture and Sport Ministry could not be reached for comment prior to publishing.