Have been working on this one for a while: On how the Toronto Public Library has had a plan since 2006 to substantially increase open hours across the city and how city council has never funded it thestar.com/news/gta/2020/…
As the city is challenged by escalating violence and poverty, in my reporting I saw firsthand the library has become an increasingly vital space. It is a community centre, a shelter. More than anything it’s a safe place that costs no money and no one bothers you. A rare thing.
When library officials created the Open Hours plan in 2006, it was to respond to demands on service and to address the existing inequities across the city. From that 2006 board report (torontopubliclibrary.ca/content/about-…): 
During the 2019 budget process, staff brought a revised plan as approved by the library board to phase in the Open Hours plan over three years at $18.2M. But city staff didn't include it in their recommended budget "due to fiscal challenges facing the city" - a common theme.
That year, @shelleycarroll, in a series of motion with @m_layton, tried to get the first phase of the Open Hours plan funded. It failed at budget committee (thestar.com/news/city_hall…):
This year, the library board approved the plan again at budget time and told library staff to put forward both phase 1 & 2 to make up for lost time. City staff have included neither in their budget recommended to council. No talk of fiscal challenges this year, just not included:
In their response to me, the mayor's office highlighted new investments in the library - $25 million since 2014. "Mayor Tory and city council over the last five years have been focused on moving the library forward – improving and expanding library services, not cutting them."
The numbers tell a different story:
The city's chief librarian @vbowlestpl is endlessly positive about all of this. She pointed out they've been able to achieve about 30% of the original Open Hours plan incrementally over the last 15 years through staff efficiencies and some funding.
I asked her, having looked at the numbers in their budget submission, how she could be so positive. She reminded me about the Ford years: thestar.com/news/gta/2011/…
When it comes to city budgeting, the continued focus on keeping property taxes low has meant not funding things like the Open Hours plan. That $25M Tory's office referenced works out to an average ⬆️ that is roughly inflationary. Considering population 📈, that's a cut.
I learned how the branch system was always meant to be an expansion that would bring libraries to the people. It owes it's start, in part, to a donation from Carnegie Corporation not public dollars. $350K built Yorkville (below), Queen/Lisgar, Riverdale & College/St. George
.@EricKlinenberg, in his great book, highlights how Carnegie wanted libraries to be "palaces for the people." He told city officials in 1906, Globe reported: “I want them to attract the young, for young men may go to other objectionable places if libraries are not convenient."
In 1910, the city's chief librarian wrote a report about how the Carnegie money was used. It talks about the immediate need for further expansion (and also a rift with the Ontario government):
There was a great expansion of Toronto's libraries between that time and 1998, when the city amalgamated. Part of, what Klinenberg told me, was a collective project across North America to invest in libraries, parks and schools. Considered “vital” infrastructure.
The last branch was built at Scarborough Civic Centre in 2015. The library would like to build two more, but it's not currently budgeted. Klinenberg said choosing between expansion and increased open hours is not easy. The city is not accomplishing much of either.
Klinenberg writes at length about the value libraries have, how kids will be formed “in the places they go to learn about themselves and the world they’ll inherit.”
A line stuck out to me. The author concluded: “They deserve palaces. Whether they get them is up to us.”
/end
A line stuck out to me. The author concluded: “They deserve palaces. Whether they get them is up to us.”
/end
One note: Unsurprisingly, @torontolibrary was incredibly generous with their time & resources. A lot of their history is carefully archived online and inside the Toronto Reference Library where you get to hold yellowed pages from 1910 in your hands and that is a special thing
OK last thing: So glad for @CTulk who built a map so you can see if your branch would get more hours under the Open Hours plan. No ward is exempt. Check here: thestar.com/news/gta/2020/…
