Should libraries stick to books?

Councillor Mike Del Grande, the city's budget chief, questions whether the library should be in the business of first-run movies and non-English materials.

Budget chief Mike Del Grande questioned the library's choice of materials Tuesday, suggesting focusing more on its core business could free up money to keep hours intact.
Budget chief Mike Del Grande questioned the library's choice of materials Tuesday, suggesting focusing more on its core business could free up money to keep hours intact.   (Colin McConnell / Toronto Star) | Order this photo  

Toronto’s budget chief questioned Tuesday whether the Toronto Public Library should be in the business of offering popular movies and material not in the English language.

Councillor Mike Del Grande, responding to the furor over proposed cuts to library hours, told reporters Tuesday that library users can access new releases like Pirates of the Caribbean at any of the 98 branches.

“Should the city library become a Blockbuster?” Del Grande said. “Is that what we should be doing? Is that our core program or is that program creep?”

In calling for a debate on library programming, the budget chair said he questions the library’s decision to stock non-English items.

“Are we an international library? What proportion of our budget should go for non-English movies and books, etc.? The argument would be made this is what makes the city great, but I would dare say our common language is English.”

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“We’re spending tons of money for ESL. Should we not have a discussion of how much of the library budget should go for non-English resources? And if we are to be an international language library, let’s talk about how we do that. But right now, we are a computer centre, we’re in the movie business, we’re in the circulation business of non-English language programming.”

Councillor Janet Davis, a library board member, defended providing material in other languages spoken by thousands of users.

“Educators around the world recognize that first-language information materials are important for developing literacy,” Davis said. “We know that we need to have a diverse collection at the Toronto Public Library to reflect the diversity of our population.

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“We provide materials that support newcomers to enter the workforce, to upgrade their professional qualifications. These are all essential materials that should be in an urban library and we do an excellent job.”

However, Del Grande suggested the library could find money to maintain hours if it narrowed its focus.

“Obviously, the more you do these program creeps, you don’t have enough money to do all the things you want to do. So my issue is: What are the fundamentals we’re supposed to do?

“Now the library is becoming the community centre. Is the library to be a community centre? If we don’t have the discussion, we’ll never make ends meet.”

Being a focal point for the community is precisely the right role, said Councillor Sarah Doucette, a library board member. She shook her head when Del Grande’s recorded comments were played back to her.

“I guess it depends what you think a library is,” she said. “A library is no longer a room full of books. It’s the computers where people can come to get jobs, improve their education. Some of the videos are how-to videos. We’ve got the newspapers, we’ve got magazines. We’re working to get more e-books.”

Doucette said she sees the library as “a hub of a community. It’s a cooling centre in the summer, it’s somewhere you can go in the winter. You go to study. It allows students to do better in school, which gets them better jobs in the long run.”

It’s for library staff to decide programming choices, not city councillors, she said.

“We don’t all speak English,” Doucette said. “We have books in Chinese. We ask them to be in French because we have a school down the street teaching French.

“The videos are all over the spectrum. It’s not just first-run movies, it’s documentaries, it’s in all different languages.”

Davis said videos are very popular among borrowers.

“There are many low-income families that can’t afford to rent from Blockbuster,” she said. “The rates have all gone up. We provide information and other products or materials to families based on demand.”
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