FOPL Members:
As you are aware the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport has announced that they will be sunsetting the public library e-resources funding ($2 million+) as of Dec. 31, 2015. This is a direct cut to your community resources that limits our mandates for access and equity in serving Ontarians.
We are hearing that the Ministry is surprised at the light reaction to this announcement. I know that this is a much discussed issue in our sector and that there have been several submissions to the Ontario Libraries Capacity Fund to study the value and impact of e-resources in public libraries and how they level the playing field for disadvantaged populations, less wealthy learners, and provide equity of access in small, medium and rural / remote library service populations. This is a good long term strategy.
In the opinion of your FOPL board of directors, this is great but not sufficient in the near term. Please consider the following communications:
- Have your Board pass a motion about the loss of e-resources funding and the impact that it will have on your library system and users.
- Review the attached letter from FOPL to Minister Coteau and adapt it to your specific environment and users. While we respect the goal of deficit reduction and the protection of some of our other sources of funding in this exercise, we do hold the opinion that provincial funding of public libraries is too small, given our community impact and support for community hubs, culture, and learning. We suggest that an alliance with other ministries to support e-resources for Ontarians is in order.
- Send the letter from your board and CEO to:
- Honorable Michael Coteau, Minister
- Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport
- 9th floor, Hearst Bock
- 900 Bay Street
- Toronto, Ontario M7A 2E1
Linked below is the letter that FOPL sent to Minister Coteau on August 25, 2015. (We have not received a reply as of Oct. 15, 2015). You may choose to use this as a model for your letter.
Stephen Abram
Executive Director, FOPL
Link to MS Word Doc: Coteau-Library-e-Reources-August-25