Residents of Fort Frances face significant cuts to library services in the year ahead, according to CUPE 65, which represents library workers in the northwestern Ontario town.
“We have heard from management that there will be a significant cut in funding that will eliminate student positions and dramatically reduce children’s services and programming. We’re concerned that the public doesn’t know what is happening to their library,” said Evan Miller, CUPE 65 Unit Chair, who works in IT for the library.
CUPE has learned that town council is cutting $25,000 from the budget of the Fort Frances Public Library Technology Centre. Management has communicated that they intend to:
Reduce the Children and Youth Services Coordinator to a part-time position,
Eliminate student shelving positions, and
Change scheduling in a way that will further impact library services and hours.
“A library is more than a book depository; it is the heart of the community. We provide a huge range of services and are the one public space that is open to everyone,” said Miller. “That means, even as we’re getting cuts, we’re having to provide more and more services to a population facing more and more challenges. We need our community to voice their concerns and for management to rise to the challenge, not abandon us in the face of it.”
CUPE is Ontario’s union for library workers, representing workers in 66 library systems provincewide.