Is your neighbourhood school about to lose its library?

Sault Ste. Marie Public Library is lending support to the Ontario Library Association’s “Save Our School Libraries” campaign.

"As you are aware, some public schools no longer even have a library," says Matthew MacDonald, the Sault library's chief executive officer, in an announcement to his staff about the campaign.

"Recent changes in government funding have put this precarious resource at an even greater risk," MacDonald said.

Petitions are being made available for signing at both the North Branch Library and the James L. McIntyre Centennial Library downtown.

"This past April, the Ministry of Education introduced a new education funding model that eliminated protected funding for school libraries and library staff, as well as accountability measures that were implemented in 2021," says the Ontario Library Association website.

"This new education funding model now adds additional pressure to already at-risk school libraries and their staff. Without accountability or enveloped funding, school boards will continue to cut school library funding in response to growing budgetary challenges province-wide."

In a recent letter to Education Minister Stephen Lecce, Wendy Burch Jones, president of the Ontario School Library Association, writes: "Protecting provincial funding allocated to school boards for school libraries and library staff is more critical than ever. Over the past two decades, due to school board-level decisions, hundreds of thousands of students across Ontario have lost access to school libraries and the critical resources and support they provide.

"In the past few years, this has accelerated as several of Ontario’s largest school boards have made dramatic reductions to school libraries and library staff, affecting hundreds of thousands of students. Other school boards in both urban and rural communities have eliminated them altogether," she said.

The petition asks the province to:

• protect school libraries for Ontario students by revising the core education funding model to fully protect funding for school library staff and resources, equivalent to the provincial funding formula
• re-institute its policy requiring all school boards to report annually on the allocation and expenditure of funds specifically designated for school libraries
• mandate that these reports include information on the staffing of school libraries, ensuring that they are staffed by professional teacher-librarians to maximize the benefits for students
• mandate that these reports be made publicly accessible to hold school boards accountable and allow parents, educators, and stakeholders to understand how funds are being utilized to support school library services