OPL vs. GJ Hagenaars
Bay Ward candidate GJ Hagenaars doesn’t seem to be a fan of the Ottawa Public Library. Apparently the $40 million budget is too rich for his blood. In a letter to David Reevely he says:
what we truly need are small, local libraries, with one librarian (making less than six figures) and volunteer staff from the community to keep them going. Let people vote with their feet if they want library services. If there are no volunteers (i.e. not enough interest), one full-time librarian is already too much.
I disagree.
I’m not sure if Mr. Hagenaars has had the opportunity to visit a branch of the OPL recently, but they offer much more than book lending: language instruction, room rentals, internet access, children’s programs, computer classes, and classes for recent immigrants (with titles like “How to Get an Ontario Driver’s Licence”). Libraries are community hubs, just like sports arenas and community centres. The OPL’s classes, programs, and resources help people get engaged with their city.
On top of that, our libraries get a lot of use. According to Elizabeth from Library Reference, the OPL’s usage for 2009 was:
| Total uses: | 27,608,868 |
| Borrowed items: | 10,692,133 |
| In house use of materials | 2,415,200 |
| Visits: | 5,005,050 |
The provincial government provides statistics from 2007: 4,286,900 visitors; 10,083,595 items lent; 8,485 programs; and 195,569 program enrollees.
It’s hard to see Mr. Hagenaars’ 31 paid staff keeping up with that load. I have an even harder time imagining people volunteering to push mops, book room rentals, fix water leaks, wire up computer networks, teach French/English/Mandarin/Arabic, or amuse a room full of other people’s screaming wonderful children. Perhaps Bay Ward has a more civicly minded population than Centretown.
Our libraries do a pretty good job. I’m sure there are improvements to be found, but arbitrary pronouncements like “one librarian and volunteer staff from the community” don’t help. If Mr. Hagenaars does get elected, I hope he takes some time to understand our city before he tries to fix it.
Image Credit: GJ Hagenaars website and the Bytowne Museum
Great post.
Which reminds me, I have a library book due.
Doing some math – if the budget is $40M and the library had about 4 million visitors — that’s a mere $10 per visit — great value. Barely the cost of a new paperback.