The Toronto Public Library is the busiest urban library system in the world and the largest public library system in Canada (98 branches).
From The Globe and Mail:
Facing demands from Mayor Rob Ford to slash a further 4.3 per cent from her budget, Toronto’s chief librarian is proposing new fines and a slate of service cuts that would terminate literacy and school outreach programs.
Jane Pyper’s new recommendations would carve $7.3-million from the library budget and avoid a heavy reduction in branch hours currently being debated at city hall.
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The bulk of the savings from Ms. Pyper’s recommendations come from $2.8-million in program cuts, a $3-million shaving of the collections budget and $500,000 over two years by replacing staff members with automated sorters in some branches. She is also recommending branches impose $1 fines for holds not picked up. Taken together, the suggestions would terminate 37 jobs.
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The $3-million collections reduction would be followed by another $785,000 cut in 2013, bringing the total budget cut for new materials to 22 per cent.
About Gary Price
