BradfordToday received the following letter to the editor from Ross Walker regarding the recent and ongoing controversy over the closure of the Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library. To submit a letter to the editor, please click here.
I do support the library workers per se but maybe we need to look at the whole picture. First of all, when I see the headline in BradfordToday – 'Protest: Closure of library is 'disturbing' for local students' – my first thought is that the students are suffering because they don't have access to needed reference books or a place to study quietly. No, the article went on to say that the students were suffering due to not having a place to go at lunch time. What? Really? So the library is just a drop-in centre for them, not a place to learn, read and study? What we need then is a space for them to hang out, not a huge library!
My other concern is, and this may be what council is thinking, the huge and very costly building housing the library. This building is just as large as the rec centre which houses 2 ice rinks, a large pool, and a full size gym and track. Do we really need a building of this size to house a library? Alliston's library, albeit very small, seems to work well for the community, and like Bradford's library, there really isn't, at any time of the day, very many people inside.
We don't need library space like we used to before the internet came along. Maybe the town should consolidate the town hall and all of its satellite offices into this building and, if possible, use a smaller area of the existing building for the library or build something else on the same property. It looks large enough. Oh, and how about adding a drop-in centre for the students!
Ross Walker
Bradford
