Over 100 people from the Wood Mountain constituency joined the province-wide Drop Everything and Read event on April 7 in Assiniboia. They wanted to send a message to their Member of the Legislature that libraries in Saskatchewan are important, especially in the rural regions.
In Assiniboia, people of all ages from babies to seniors came from Assiniboia, Willow Bunch, Verwood, Rockglen and surrounding locations to gather in front of the office of Wood River MLA David Marit.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an event that everyone is doing across Saskatchewan. We are hoping to show MLAs that we support our libraries,鈥� said Cecette Brons Rhodes, organizer of the Wood River 鈥淩ead In鈥�. The event hopes to draw attention in a quiet and peaceful manner that the citizens of Saskatchewan love their libraries.
The 鈥淩ead In鈥� organizers asked Saskatchewan residents to bring a book to their MLA offices and read for 15 minutes around the noon hour. It was a peaceful, non-political rally to ask the provincial government to reconsider its cuts to public libraries and re-fund the library systems. The event organizers asked those who could not join the movement to host an event at their local library or other public space and send photos of the event to their local MLA.
Education Minister Don Morgan has defended the cuts citing statistics that the number of checked out items had dropped by 1.6 million in the past decade and the number of library cards had also dropped by 175,000. He also called for efficiencies in merging public libraries with school libraries. The Saskatchewan Library Association has responded to these statements from the government with a four-page response that they have circulated to the public. They are concerned that the government is propagating misconceptions about the library system. For example, the SLA states that it is inaccurate to count library cards and checkout numbers as the sole determinants of library usage.
One library card often serves multiple users when parents checkout items for their children, or for use at a daycare or care home. The SLA also argued that the library spaces are being efficiently used for many community events and programs in addition to housing books. For example, in 2016, over 45,000 children were involved in the 2,510 activities offered by public libraries over the eight-week summer programming period.
