Library Funding and the Public Good

Federal Library Funding in Canada: Intellectual Freedom, Preservation of Information and the Public Good

What happens to Canadian history without support from Library and Archives Canada?

Preservation of Information under threat at LAC

Luc Cusson

Jason Friedman

How will we understand the impact of climate change without research support?

• Budget reduction of 17% in 1 year
• Closure of regional centres
• Reduced access and service

original image by Eszter Hargittai http://www.flickr.com/photos/68751915@N05/6869761133/

Threats to Intellectual Freedom

bouchecl http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Canada_GHG_map_2008-en.svg

Cuts in funding to government libraries reduce:

Dept. of Fisheries and Oceans

• Closure of 7 of 11 regional libraries
• Permanent loss of materials for researchers

Yet... the social contributions of libraries are under threat... in the era of austerity...

Why libraries?

The Goal: Balanced Budget for 2015-2016

The Federal Budget

-Intellectual Freedom

-Preservation of Information

-the Public Good

Parks Canada

• Consolidation of 5 regional libraries into 1

The Means:

Reducing spending through "more efficient government operations"

• Information is less visible
• Google syndrome
• Questionable usage statistics

And ideology?

401(K) 2012 http://www.flickr.com/photos/68751915@N05/6869761133/

Impact

The Public Good and Public Health

- Job losses

- Services cut

- Valuable information lost

- Degraded research ability

Closure of Health Canada main library

• Reduced access to information for scientists and researchers
• Reduced access to information for clinicians and health professionals
• Health Science Libraries are highly valued by those in the field

Criticisms

What happens to public health without access to the best and latest research?

aussiegall http://www.flickr.com/photos/aussiegall/309391023/in/photostream/

Conclusion

The reduced funding to government libraries has a negative impact on Intellectual Freedom, Preservation of information, and the Public Good.

References

Bartlett, J. and Marshall, J. The Value of Library and Information Services in Patient Care: Canadian Results From an International Multisite Study. Journal of the Canadian Health Libraries Association, 2013, 34(03): 138-146, 10.5596/c13-063

Collins, T. (2012). The current budget environment and its impact on libraries, publishers and vendors. Journal of Library Administration, 52(1), 18-35. doi:10.1080/01930826.2012.630643

Dupuis, J. The Canadian War on Science: A long, unexaggerated, devastating chronological indictment. ScienceBlogs. 20 May 2013. http://scienceblogs.com/confessions/2013/05/20/the-canadian-war-on-science-a-long-unexaggerated-devastating-chronological-indictment/

Germano, M. (2011). The library value deficit. The Bottom Line: Managing Library Finances, 24(2), 100-106. doi:10.1108/08880451111169124

Government of Canada. Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity. Economic Action Plan 2013.

Groover, M. The Wrecking of Canada's Library and Archives. The Tyree. 7 June 2012. http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2012/06/07/LibraryCuts/

Linnitt, C. Harper’s Attack on Science: No Science, No Evidence, No Truth, No Democracy. Academic Matters : The Journal of Higher Education. May 2013. http://www.academicmatters.ca/2013/05/harpers-attack-on-science-no-science-no-evidence-no-truth-no-democracy/

Nikiforuk, A. Canada's Science Library Closures Mirror Bush's Playbook. The Tyree. 9 January 2014. http://thetyee.ca/News/2014/01/09/Harper-Science-Library-Closure/

Owens, B. Canadian Government Accused of Destroying Environmental Archives. Nature: News. 17 January 2014. doi:10.1038/nature.2014.14539

Payton, L. Health Canada Library Changes Leave Scientists Scrambling. CBC. http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/health-canada-library-changes-leave-scientists-scrambling-1.2499217

Thorkelson, E. DFO Library Closures Anger Scientific Community. http://desmog.ca/2014/01/09/dfo-library-closures-anger-scientific-community