More provincial funding needed for libraries and museums – Clarington

Clarington hopes a little light reading by the Province will convince the government to increase operating grants for public libraries and museums around Ontario.

Clarington’s General Government Committee sent a motion off to Council this week urging Queen’s Park to increase funding to municipal libraries and museums to address “critical” shared priorities and community needs.

The motion, moved by Councillor Lloyd Rang, stated that provincial funding for public libraries is based on population levels from 31 years ago and “fails to reflect the substantial growth,” leading to a decrease in the value of the province’s investment by more than 60 per cent.

Rang cited a report from the Canadian Urban Institute that highlights the “pivotal role” libraries play in community life, including knowledge distribution, culture, health, reconciliation, belonging and democracy, and the 204,000 Canadians looking for jobs and the 16,000 people accessing training classes every month at their local library.

Rang, who called libraries and museums “the heart of our communities,” also cited reports from “every order of government” that declared public libraries have the highest return on investment of any publicly funded program, with every dollar invested resulted in $7.45 in community benefits.