Save your library
Concerned residents of Prince Edward County have put together a petition opposing the proposed closure or dismantling of the Ameliasburgh, Bloomfield, and Consecon branches of the Library. Thank you to everyone who signed the petition.
Thank you for signing the petition in support of the library. Your voice made a difference and the proposal to cut library services by closing or relocating branches to inadequate sites has been taken off the 2012 Budget and Financial Sustainability Opportunities report..
Budget deliberations continue, however, and we are hopeful that library services
will not be adversely affected. We look forward to your continued support
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I’ve signed the petition.
I’ve said this before: Them councillors didn’t consider refusing their pay increases and putting that money towards the library system or into some other part of the County budget. And there are way too many councilors anyway. Noses in the trough.
At what point in time will council stop taking things that are benificial away from the citizens of the community, and look in the mirror?
Support your local library!
Last budget several councillors tried their best to increase the library budget to improve services. Where are they now? What changed?
Speaking as a senior, it is most pleasurable to be able to make use of the public library’s reading materials, videos, talking books for those who have a hard time reading and many programmes and events that are offered. Some seniors don’t drive making it harder for them to enjoy the benefits that would be available to them in their own town.
This is unconscionable. We get little enough services from our taxes as it is. Libraries are an important and necessary part of the life of a community. It will be shameful if Ameliasburg, Bloomfield and Consecon are denied their right to have a library.
I think if you had a look at who was actually on council, you would notice that few of them actually frequent any of the County libraries. My suggestion would be to target a facility that they support, and then hear them complain.
Andrew Carnegie must be turning over in his grave. How can we let this happen to an institution that is the right of every man, woman and child.
The various branches of the P.E.C. library system
are not just “book storage places” . They provide many other unique services that directly benefit and enrich the lives of their respective
local communities in many ways. They undoubtedly give one of the “best bangs for the buck” in terms of investing our (repeat,”OUR”) P.E.C. tax dollars. If they are closed down what alternative does Council have to offer as a replacement of equal value and efficacy to us?.
A basic problem with this Council is that they pretend to know the cost of everything but actually don’t know the value of anything.
Leave the P.E.C. library system “as is” and look elsewhere for real savings in operating expenses – starting with the Council remuneration and a steadily over-weaning County bureaucracy!!. Lots of fertile ground there.
Councillors, please understand that, if you reduce support for our public library, those who will be negatively affected include the County’s most vulnerable citizens. Some of them appear in “At the Public Library” which the library’s excellent and far-ranging services inspired me to write.
At the Public Library
Who do you see at the public library?
Everybody. Every age, every interest, every fear, every hope.
Toddlers aim crookedly for the Circulation Desk, hugging picture books in their small arms.
Elderly folk, some brave and bright, others weary and beaten, make their slow way to the day’s destination – bookshelf, magazine rack, computer terminal, easy chair.
A teenager prints out her resume in hope of a summer job. A man who was young once prints his out, too, with far less hope.
Brisk people on lunch dash in to pick up the latest bestseller.
Lonely individuals seek solace in the newspaper, on the computer, in the friendly faces around them.
Panicked kids, deadlines looming, look for help. What is the longest river in the world? How did World War I affect Canada’s economy?
People with troubled faces gather books and websites on cancer, on Alzheimer’s, on fibromyalgia.
People arrive whom birth or trauma have dealt a hard hand to play — many on their own, some with caregivers — to check a favourite website or find a book or video to enjoy.
A young woman, abloom with excitement, hunts out the wedding planning section.
People gripped by steel trap minds fiercely research the topics that consume them.
Avid readers, returning last week’s pile of books, fill their tote bags up again.
You see everybody at the public library. Every age, every interest, every fear, every hope.
Councillors, please understand that, if you reduce support for our public library, those who will be negatively affected include the County’s most vulnerable citizens. Some of them appear in “At the Public Library” which the library’s excellent and far-ranging services inspired me to write:
At the Public Library
Who do you see at the public library?
Everybody. Every age, every interest, every fear, every hope.
Toddlers aim crookedly for the Circulation Desk, hugging picture books in their small arms.
Elderly folk, some brave and bright, others weary and beaten, make their slow way to the day’s destination – bookshelf, magazine rack, computer terminal, easy chair.
A teenager prints out her resume in hope of a summer job. A man who was young once prints his out, too, with far less hope.
Brisk people on lunch dash in to pick up the latest bestseller.
Lonely individuals seek solace in the newspaper, on the computer, in the friendly faces around them.
Panicked kids, deadlines looming, look for help. What is the longest river in the world? How did World War I affect Canada’s economy?
People with troubled faces gather books and websites on cancer, on Alzheimer’s, on fibromyalgia.
People arrive whom birth or trauma have dealt a hard hand to play — many on their own, some with caregivers — to check a favourite website or find a book or video to enjoy.
A young woman, abloom with excitement, hunts out the wedding planning section.
People gripped by steel trap minds fiercely research the topics that consume them.
Avid readers, returning last week’s pile of books, fill their tote bags up again.
You see everybody at the public library. Every age, every interest, every fear, every hope.
Funding for our libraries should not be reduced, it should be increased and closing of any of our libraries is unacceptable, they are essential to our communities for a life long learning tool… for expanding our knowledge and for reference to help us at least try to keep up with the fast speed of absorbing and retaining the information that we must deal with on a daily basis, and last but not least for exercising our minds. Try to imagine any place of learning without a library…… I am unable to understand the thinking of the decision making individuals who refuse to realize that knowledge is power….. and these same individuals who are obviously in denial about the importance of knowledge for competing in our fast paced world.
The preparedness of our students especially, is being compromised each and every day by not providing the necessary tools to compete effectively,,,,,,,,,, this is definitely a case where more is less.
The Bloomfield Library, like the others being discussed for closure, is an important community asset that far outweighs the very small amount of funding that would be saved if the library is closed.
How strange that the County administration is proposing shutting down a low cost facility that provides social, cultural and learning opportunities for people in the village and surrounding areas – for people who are committed to living and working in the County year-round. Economic development initiatives are important but they’re not the ONLY important contribution to a strong quality of life in the County. Mr Mayor and Council, do not close these libraries.
If I remember correctly the land for the Bloomfield library was willed to Bloomfield for the use of a library only! This land is library land and in fact the Bloomfield Women’s Institute moved the building that houses our library to its present domain. This piece of heritage cannot be changed.
I am curious (having been one) how young mothers get to the library with only 1 household vehicle that is gone during the day. When will it end??? Libraries are much more then just books, for some children and young mom’s it’s a lifeline.
We are very disappointed in our municipal government for considering the closing of a number of our libraries. These instutions have always been important in our thirst for knowledge from the very young to the elderly.
Lorraine Ireland
PLEASE SAVE OUR SMALL TOWN LIBRARIES!!!!!!!!!!!!
I absolutely love the Bloomfield library it is so close and convenient to our home and as a child growing up it was an asset to my expanding education!!!!!! It is close to the Elementary school and it’s great for families to take their children to. As my son gets older and requires resources to help him with his education I hope that the library will still be there for him. Please do not destroy our libraries!!!!!!!!
I’m curious, what extra-curricular activities are going to be implemented to keep young kids and teens occupied and out of trouble if you get rid our local libraries? Please reconsider the damage that you are potentially causing to young people and their education.
Please do not destroy our local libraries!!!!!!
As a young journalist I recognize the importance of community resource centres and gathering places for people of all ages. I love the fact that so many people are taking a stand against the unwanted changes. My name’s Keenan Weaver, I’m currently in the journalism program at Loyalist College and am working on a story about this issue to help raise awareness on all aspects of it. If you’d like to provide input on the subject for on-air radio and online publication please let me know and I’d be more than happy to arrange a meeting or interview. Send me an email to weaver.keenan@gmail.com and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
Thanks,
and long live the public library.