What is the issue?
Professional school library staff and dedicated space within schools for library collections play critical roles providing literacy and curriculum support to students and classroom teachers. Researchers the world over have found that professionally staffed school libraries improve educational outcomes for students, and assist classroom teachers in supporting individual learning styles and challenges. A great many Union members present their work during classroom visits in public schools, and their books are regularly collected in school libraries.
Over the past two decades, because of reduced government funding for education, and the difficult choices school boards and individual schools must make, hundreds of thousands of students across Canada have lost access to school libraries.
In 2024 in Ontario, the Ontario Library Association identified a new funding formula from government that threatened school libraries even further. Library funding was removed as a discrete category in educational budgets, giving implicit permission to boards and schools to reduce their investment in these resources.
What TWUC is doing
TWUC is advocating with the library sector for increased government funding aimed directly at the maintenance and building of school library spaces, and the retention of professional school librarians.
What you can do
Please join local advocacy campaigns (some information below) asking provincial governments to maintain discrete funding in educational budgets for school libraries. For related information, please see TWUC’s Canadian Books in Schools advocacy page.
Further reading
- TWUC’s 2024 letter to the Ontario Minister of Education.
- The Ontario Library Association’s 2024 Save Our School Libraries campaign.
- The Ontario Library Association’s 2024 petition for school libraries.
Stronger Together
TWUC’s advocacy is most effective as the collective voice of Canada’s professional authors. We are stronger together. If you are not already a member of TWUC and are working as a writer, consider joining the Union. If you wish to support TWUC’s advocacy outside of membership, consider donating to the Union.
TWUC’s advocacy is most effective as the collective voice of Canada’s professional authors. We are stronger together. If you are not already a member of TWUC and are working as a writer, consider joining the Union. If you wish to support TWUC’s advocacy outside of membership, consider donating to the Union.
