Citizens of Brownsburg-Chatham,
As President of Les Bibliothèques publiques de Laval, Laurentides, Lanaudière (BPLLL), I was seized with the situation of the public library in your town and the creation of the coalition We Deserve Better. Hereby, I congratulate you on your position and I support the approach you have taken in order to establish a quality public library .
As citizens paying taxes, you're entitled to ask your elected officials to provide municipal services that meet the quality standards established in all public areas. At present, according to the 2008-2009 financial report (in French) of Réseau BIBLIO des Laurentides, the library in Brownsburg-Chatham meets only 24% of standards on the size of a public library. Thus, reaching 100% of the current standard, the minimum desirable, your library should be at least four times greater than it currently is. In comparison with another well-known municipal service, imagine an arena that would lose 75% of what is essential to providing good service to the public. Imagine an arena with no room for players, without resurfacing (Zamboni), no bands or fillets. Only four walls and an ice maintained by employees full of good will. Some say that only 11% of the population of Brownsburg-Chatham subscribes to the library. Would you use an arena into a state as described above?
To attract people to the library, it must develop services, have an attractive place, be friendly. We must make it the heart of the community. In order to achieve that, we must invest in infrastructure in the personnel and the acquisition of documents. How many people thought that the Grande Bibliothèque is a white elephant? Built in the midst of budget cuts aimed at achieving a zero deficit, yet the library now attracts five times more people than expected. Lucien Bouchard, Louise Beaudouin and Lise Bissonnette able to meet a need that was not clearly expressed by the population. In Brownsburg-Chatham, citizens ask for a new library. Its success is assured!
Les Biliothèques publiques de Laval, Laurentides, Lanaudière were also made aware of the resolution number 10-04-150 stating that "the City Council of the City of Brownsburg-Chatham demand for employees of the municipal library not to proceed, from this point, the purchase of books, journals, periodicals, DVDs, etc. otherwise than through the Centre régional de services aux bibliothèques publiques (CRSBPL) Laurentides Inc." What citizens need to know is that the CRSBPL is not a library. It does not sell books or periodicals, and even fewer DVDs. The CRSBPL (also called Réseau BIBLIO) buys books he lends to its member municipalities. Thus, the resolution abolishes the purchase of books. Moreover, politicians should know that Bill 51 requires public libraries to purchase books in at least three accredited bookstores in their administrative region, at the price set by the publisher. In other words, it is unlawful for a public agency to buy books at Wal-Mart, Jean Coutu, etc.
Also according to the 2008-2009 Réseau BIBLIO des Laurentides, the municipality has only 5,451 documents, which gives only 0.8 books per capita. If one adds to this figure the 6,959 filings by Réseau BIBLIO, the ratio rises to 1.8 books per capita, which is well below the 3 books by people you want in Politique de la lecture et du livre of the Ministry of Culture and Communications, produced in 1998. The Discrepancy in your municipality is increasingly oppressive and the gap continues to widen as the population increases. How can we attract people to the library without new books? The loans conducted through the Réseau BIBLIO can definitely not meet demand for new products and bestsellers. Abolishing the budget for the purchase of library books is the equivalent of melting the ice in an arena. Eventually, nobody will be interested to come.
It is obvious that each municipality's capacity to pay is not unlimited. Each municipal council was elected last November having made such an election platform, projects and priorities. However, nothing prevents a city council to enact new priorities while in office according to needs, interests and pressures of the population.
In fall 2005, the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh has authorized the Center for Economic Development at Carnegie-Mellon University to determine the impact of the library on the regional economy. The results of this study will surprise more than one; for every dollar spent by the library, the community derives economic benefit of three dollars. Thus, if one transposes the total benefits to the entire population of this municipality, the library contributes
$ 75 per capita.
Investing in the library is an investment in the community education and it contributes to the reduction of dropout because libraries greatly facilitate the learning of young people. To learn to calculate, to operate a machine tool and to solve various problems, we must understand what is asked of us and for that, to read well. Unfortunately, we often forget that all learning is through reading. Investing in the library is also developing its local economy. To attract industries and create new jobs in Argenteuil and Brownsburg-Chatham, we must develop a skilled workforce who can read!
Citizens of Brownsburg-Chatham, continue your efforts, Les Bibliothèques publiques de Laval, Laurentides and Lanaudière are behind you!
Stephane Legault, bibl. prof.
President, Public Libraries
Laval, Laurentides, Lanaudière
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