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Date-due slips at Toronto libraries may soon feature ads

Natalie Alcoba | 12/07/17 | Last Updated: 12/07/17 3:33 AM ET
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The Toronto Public Library is looking for a vendor to sell advertising space on the back of its date-due slips, and wants a consultant to determine what other space could make the organization money.

Forced to cut $10-million out of its budget in 2012 as part of Mayor Rob Ford’s efforts to trim government spending, the public library board approved a plan this winter that could significantly expand its advertising component. Right now, commercial ads are only placed in the What’s On publication. A request for proposals posted this month would see that grow to the 2,650 rolls of receipt paper the 98 branches use every month. It could be in place by the fall.

A separate RFP seeks to hire advertising and media consultants to review “all Library channels and vehicles,” including the exterior of branches, the delivery truck fleet, posters, brochures, websites, and LCD screens in branches, and report back on the financial viability of such a program and how to roll it out.

TPL surveyed Canadian and U.S. public library systems and found that commercial advertising is uncommon. Mississauga and Kitchener are examples of places that do, and it brings in a “modest” amount of money.

Councillor Janet Davis, a member of the library board, fears this push for advertising dollars is “selling our souls.”

“We’ve plastered our public spaces everywhere with advertising, to the point where you can’t recognize a subway or streetcar, you smack into billboards as you’re walking down sidewalks,” she said. “Where do you draw the line? I say you draw the line at schools and libraries.”

But Councillor Paul Ainslie, chairman of the library board, doesn’t see what’s wrong with advertising on the back of slips, or looking at other options that help raise revenue. “People want programming at the library but they don’t want their taxes raised, and we have to find a way to do that,” he said. “It’s not like we’re putting up a flashing billboard while you’re trying to read a book.” Mr. Ainslie has already been contacted by three different firms that advertise on the back of grocery store slips with a roster of clients that “library patrons would find acceptable.”

“You’re not going to find a strip bar advertised on the back of a library slip. You’re not going to find any bars either,” he said.

Linda Hazzan, director of communications for the library, said it is expecting to get most interest from “services and programs that are complimentary to the services we deliver,” such as not-for-profit, educational organizations or publishers. Councillor Cesar Palacio, also a member of the board, is confident staff will exercise “common sense” when choosing what companies have access to the eyeballs of more than 19-million visitors a year. Policy states library staff will sign off on all commercial messages, which must be appropriate for all ages.

National Post
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  • http://sandblastingjobwork.com/advertising-in-libraries-considering-the-consequences Advertising in Libraries? Considering the Consequences

    [...] the plan and is seeking to hire a consultant to sell the due-date slip advertising. According to this article in Toronto’s National Post, the library also seeks to hire advertising and media consultants to review all library channels [...]

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