Over the last few months, the Springwater Public Library has come under fire from some members of Springwater Township council.
Pretty much anything to do with the library, from replacing outdated lighting systems in the Elmvale branch to the competency of the library board, has been questioned, debated and discussed — at length.
Wednesday night’s council meeting saw more of the same.
Ward 2 Coun. Danielle Alexander brought forth a notice of motion supporting a two-year-old County of Simcoe resolution that called on the province “to modify the Public Libraries Act (PLA) to provide greater accountability to library services by making library services a reporting department of the funding municipalities.”
Before explaining why she brought forth the motion, Alexander acknowledged the folks in the gallery, many of whom, she rightly noted, were there specifically to hear the library discussion.
“I want to point out that this is not a motion that I specifically wrote,” Alexander said. “What I am asking for is support of a resolution that was passed by the County of Simcoe in 2022. I want to make very clear my intent.
“In no way am I trying to close down branches of our library and in no way am I trying to have any employee lose their job. That is not the intent, 100 per cent, I can assure you," she said.
“It’s about accountability to the taxpayer who funds the $1-million plus operating budget of the library. This is about bringing the library into the fold of the township,” she added.
Alan Sakach, press secretary for the minister of tourism, culture and sport, told BarrieToday in an email the government has no intentions of changing the PLA.
“In Ontario, public libraries are under the management and control of a board that is appointed by the municipal council,” Sakach wrote. “Currently, there are no plans to open or amend the Public Libraries Act to change the governance structure.”
Sakach said the government recognizes the "important role" of public libraries in meeting their communities’ unique and evolving needs and noted the province is providing $27 million in annual funding for the public library sector.
“Investments in libraries help communities across the province access essential resources and services,” Sakach wrote.
Alexander’s motion came two weeks after the library board made a presentation to council in response to what library board chair Adrian Graham called “inaccurate comments made at the council meeting on Feb. 21, 2024, regarding a motion to contract out library services, replacing library management, which is the CEO, and the competence of current library board.”
At that presentation, Graham said under the PLA, township council has no legal authority to contract out library services for an existing library system. He said the PLA grants library boards the status of a completely independent corporation as soon as the library board is established by council bylaws.
“Our national award-winning library seems to be on the agenda pretty frequently in this council,” said Coun. Brad Thompson, council’s representative on the library board.
“I have two questions for Coun. Alexander. First, can you give me or the province specific examples of financial mismanagement that you are concerned about?
“And, second, you supported the motion last meeting to have a staff report to find language in the PLA that would allow you to contract out library services.
“Are you suggesting now that you replace last week’s motion with this week’s motion and recommend that we stop wasting staff time and taxpayers’ money on this report?”
Alexander responded.
"In terms of financial mismanagement, I’ve never said that,” she said. “I’ve questioned things in the budget but I’ve never made the comment that there is financial mismanagement.”
She said there needs to be a different operating structure for the library and she’s open to exploring as many avenues as possible.
Coun. Phil Fisher said the motion “speaks for itself” — library services should be directly accountable to the municipalities and taxpayers that fund their operations.
“I’ve said this multiple times for those of you who do pay attention, and not on Facebook, actually pay attention to council,” he said.
“I’m in favour of the library, but it’s my job as a councillor to look at every single department, and, I’ve said this many times and it usually doesn’t make it into publication, but I’ve said this many times, when I take a look at their budget I have serious questions.”
Fisher said he’s never advocated for closing branches or cutting back staff.
“We just want the library to report, as the fire department does, as roads and fleet does, as any other department does,” he said. “This is not changing the library in any way. It’s simply bringing them under as a department.”
Two years ago, Springwater Mayor Jennifer Coughlin was part of the Simcoe County council that drafted the resolution Alexander wanted council to support.
Coughlin said she couldn’t support Alexander’s motion.
“This motion was before the County and I championed it at the County,” Coughlin said. “The difference here is, my concern is, that this is not about accountability; it’s about control.
“It’s difficult when you find yourself voting on something twice, and it’s the exact same words, and it’s an entirely different feeling. I will not support this,” she added.
Council passed Alexander’s motion. In a recorded vote, Coughlin and councillors Thompson and Garwood voted no. Deputy Mayor George Cabral and counciillors Anita Moore, Alexander and Fisher voted yes to pass the motion.
