Education minister urges school boards to reconsider library closing

TORONTO – Asking parents to fight the closure of school libraries in their communities is a "cop-out" that shows no real commitment from the Ontario government, opposition parties said Monday.

The opposition was responding to comments by the education minister after a report suggested staffing in Ontario elementary school libraries had hit an all-time low. Students in Windsor were also holding protests Monday over the closure of all libraries by the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board.

Education Minister Leona Dombrowsky said she was disappointed with the Windsor closures, and urged parents to demand schools reconsider the closings.

"It’s important that (parents) have an opportunity now to go to the people that they elected locally, who are responsible for making these decisions, and say: ‘Hey, this isn’t right,"’ Dombrowsky said Monday.

"In the face of declining enrolment there may be a need to look at their operation, but for heaven’s sake, it shouldn’t be with libraries."

But Dombrowsky said she was powerless to stop the closures, saying the decision rested with the local school boards.

Progressive Conservative Elizabeth Witmer called that response a "cop-out," adding that if the government really cared about keeping libraries open, it would take some action.

"They could certainly give direction as to how they would proceed, what the staffing model would look like within each school," said Witmer.

"If they felt this was important, they should certainly make this a requirement that schools would have the library."

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said the government should be taking the closures seriously and should step in to ensure such important resources remain available for children.

"The skills that come with using a library, with research and with reading, that’s all part of the library’s function," Horwath said.

"For a minister of education to claim that she has no interest in or no control over making sure that libraries are playing a key role in our education system, is shocking."

A report from the advocacy group People for Education released Monday found that 56 per cent of elementary schools have a teacher-librarian, down from 80 per cent in the 1997-98 school year.

The number in high schools is 66 per cent this year, down from 78 per cent 10 years ago.

The drop is concerning, the group said, because strong libraries are linked to higher standardized test scores and more interest in reading.

Dombrowsky insisted the governing Liberals support the library system, noting they have increased funding for school librarians and school libraries by 12 per cent since coming to power, even in the face of declining enrolment.