COCHRANE - More funding needs to be provided to libraries and museums province-wide, says a Cochrane councillor.
A motion from the Town of Lincoln calling for an increase in provincial funding for public libraries and community museums at the March 26 Cochrane council meeting quickly turned into a conversation about similar concerns the town faces.
Coun. France Bouvier is the municipality’s representative for the Cochrane Public Library and a longtime library lover. She believes that the library plays a vital yet invisible role in the community.
“As a community hub, the library is one of the rare places in town where you can spend the entire day inside without spending a single dollar,” she said.
The library is filling so many gaps, Bouvier added.
“Due to other social services that have been cut, the tech help numbers have been going sky high,” she said.
“People who are needing to fill out forms not quite knowing what to do. They even help people with their PC points because the store won't do it for you and some people don't know where to get started. People needing help accessing their CRA account because it's only open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and they break for lunch, so it’s not very convenient for a lot of people. So, the library’s absorbing all of these holes.”
The library also helps with passport applications and renewals and aids with immigration support, Bouvier said.
“Somebody even took their oath of citizenship right here in Cochrane at the library, which was pretty exciting,” Bouvier said.
Since 2019, over 600 people have received tech help at the library.
In 2022, Cochrane’s library had 301 new library memberships, 1,689 average annual cardholders and 25,940 annual material circulations.
In 2023, those numbers increased to 309 new library memberships, 2,224 average annual cardholders and 26,147 annual material circulations.
According to the Town of Lincoln, Ontario libraries haven’t seen an increase in provincial funding for over 25 years.
“Libraries are a crucial part of our community. They're a big community hub. I think we should support and endorse the Town of Lincoln in this to help all libraries across the province, period,” Bouvier said.
