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Guelph Mercury
October 8
By:Vik Kirsch
GUELPH—Library patron Caroline Drohan didn’t need convincing Monday on the impact a library has on local residents as an employees union handed out information leaflets outside the downtown branch.
“It’s very important,” Drohan said as she left the Guelph Public Library downtown branch with a bundle of books. She’s an avid reader who values each volume.
“If I really, really like it, I’ll buy it,” she said of picking up a copy at a local store to add to her collection of cherished ones.
Readers have patronized libraries since childhood, CUPE Ontario president Fred Hahn said in an interview as he handed out information cards to the public in Guelph during Libraries Month.
Hahn, whose union represents library workers at 51 communities serving more than eight million Ontarians, said today’s libraries offer much more in addition to books. That includes digital devices and services, special events like story-telling, literacy aids, research archives, reading programs and related expertise, as well as some public gatherings.
“They are community hubs,” Hahn said. “It’s a real way for people to connect.
“Libraries bring people together and they fortify communities.”
He was among several CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees) representatives in Guelph at noon Monday handing out information pamphlets.
“We’ve got folks from across the province,” Hahn said, explaining why they converged here. “Guelph was one of the first places to have a public library.” He was referring to the launch in 1883 of the Guelph and Toronto libraries – 130 years ago. [more]
