After 20 years the Kitchener Public Library says it’s time for the province to step up
Posted Feb 7, 2018 06:26:27 PM.
Last Updated Feb 7, 2018 06:27:17 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A lot has changed in 20 years.
One thing that has not changed is the amount of funding the province gives to public libraries.
Libraries across the province have not seen an increase in funding from the Ontario Government since Titanic won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1998.
Funding from the province makes up about 4 per cent of the KPL’s $11 million budget.
The rest comes from the city and private donations.
Mary Chevreau is the CEO of the Kitchener Public Library and says their stats show investment in public libraries goes a long way.
“For every dollar investment in a public library, the community sees about $6 in local economic development so there is a correlation,” says Chevereau.
The KPL has experienced a dramatic increase in members over the last few years, including a 20 per cent increase in new card holders in 2017.
Chevreau says public libraries are playing an increasingly large role in helping people in a paperless world.
“It’s not going to be long before everyone will need to know to how to apply for work though on online form, or apply for social assistance online, nothing is going to be paper based,” she says, “and without that opportunity we are going to be closing the doors on a lot of our citizens.”
Earlier this year Kitchener City Council had also sent a letter to the province to end the funding freeze.
