A worst-case scenario drafted by Toronto Public Library officials calls for closing 17 branches, a 58% reduction in book purchases system-wide, and a decrease in hours at more than a third of the city’s 98 libraries. The document, obtained by the Toronto Star February 16, is in response to a city inquiry about the impact a 5% cut to the library’s $236 million budget would have on its services.
“This is not a scare tactic, this is very serious,” said City Councilor Joe Mihevc, who also serves on the library’s board of directors. “Right now we need citizens to stand up and make the noise needed to save our libraries,” he added. City Librarian Josephine Bryant confirmed that closings would take place if the budget is cut, but said she is optimistic because of Toronto’s continuing support for its libraries.
“You can’t take $11.8 million out of the system without some serious cuts,” Bryant said. The report indicates that eventually as many as 27 branches could be eliminated. With even a 2% cut, seven libraries are certain to close their doors, the document shows.
Following the 1998 amalgamation of the city’s seven local governments into one, library system boundaries disappeared, with some branches becoming adjacent to one another as a result. In September 1999 a library official predicted that a city request to eliminate redundancies would mean reducing the total number of branches from 98 to 91.
Posted February 26, 2001.