National Librarian Finds Canada’s
School Libraries in Desperate State
In a draft of a statement to be published this fall, National Librarian Roch Carrier has condemned the condition of Canada’s school libraries. “The state of our nation’s libraries can only be described as a desperate one in almost every province in Canada,” wrote Carrier. “In my regular visits to library communities across the country, there is consistent heartbreak.”
Carrier found that enthusiasm for the Internet is apparently harming school libraries through the mistaken belief that “everything is there in cyberspace for free,” eliminating the need to build libraries and acquire books, the Toronto Globe and Mail reported June 7. However, he said, librarians are essential to help children find information and distinguish good sources from bad. “The teacher-librarian is there to change the life of the kids,” he noted.
The newspaper reported that the National Library has been trying to work with Canadian library groups to gather information on the state of school libraries, but researchers have had difficulty in obtaining even basic data on budget and staff sizes. “It tells me that the situation is worse than we can imagine,” said Carrier.
Posted June 11, 2001.
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