88
submitted 2 months ago by Grappling7155@lemmy.ca to c/ontario@lemmy.ca
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] streetfestival@lemmy.ca 23 points 2 months ago

International coffee chains moving away from their role as third places highlights the enduring value of libraries and their essential function in healthy communities. That’s what makes the library so special: they are there to serve the public. Whether you want to work on your laptop, use the computers to watch fight videos on TikTok, or conceivably even borrow a book, it is the one place that anyone can go for as long as they like, so long as they don’t cause trouble.

Premier Doug Ford, when he was a Toronto city councillor, once notoriously said that he would close a library “in a heartbeat” within his Etobicoke North ward, which he inaccurately claimed had more libraries than Tim Hortons. The province of Ontario has 921 libraries and 1,824 Tim Hortons. The threat to those libraries remains: In 2019, the Southern Ontario Library Service budget was cut by 50 per cent. Following budget shortfalls this year, London is considering closing two libraries; it has already suspended Sunday service for the remainder of the year. We are witnessing the erosion of an irreplaceable resource that the private sector cannot and should not be expected to provide.

this post was submitted on 06 Sep 2024
88 points (98.9% liked)

Ontario

2186 readers
1 users here now

A place to discuss all the news and events taking place in the province of Ontario, Canada.

Rules

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS