SUTHERLAND Shire Council is urging library users to join in a statewide campaign to stop the ongoing reduction in library funding, which has reached crisis point.
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Expenditure on public libraries from successive state governments has decreased from 23 per cent in 1980 to only 7 per cent in 2013, according to figures provided by NSW Public Library Associations.
The state government supplies only seven cents out of every dollar spent on providing public libraries, with councils having to fund the remaining 93 per cent. Previously, libraries were funded with a 50:50 split between state and local government.
The NSW Public Libraries Association is hoping to collect 10,000 signatures from library users across the state, which would force the government to debate the issue of library funding in State Parliament.
Sutherland Shire manager of library and information services, Lyn Barakat, said the role of libraries in the community had changed over the years.
"There's a great deal of remote access, but staff need to have the resources to provide this service," she said.
"People spend more time here now than just coming in to borrow a book and leaving.
"Sutherland Library services presents about 1500 programs a year and the demand is enormous. They range from school holiday programs to teaching technology to seniors, including the popular 'learning to Skype the grandkids' course.
"More than ever, the library is a community space. It's the notion we used to have of the village green."
This week, library users at Sutherland explained the role their library service plays in their lives and urged as many people as possible to sign the petition.
Library user Deb Fox said her eight-year-old twins, daughter Zali and son Jackson, are avid readers.
Zali reads eight books a week and Jackson almost as many.
‘‘They borrow books every week. They couldn’t survive without them,’’ she said.
‘‘Looking at it in a monetary sense, if I were to buy the books that I borrow on a weekly basis, I would be spending $80 to $100 a week.’’
Fellow library user Karen Darley praised the community atmosphere at the library.
‘‘Last year, my son John, 5, and I regularly attended the weekly story-times,’’ she said. ‘‘It stimulated his interest in reading. I sometimes suggest an outing to the park or story-time at the library and he always takes the library.
‘‘If you cut library funding, you have an impact on a child’s life.’’
HSC student Etienne Tadros said the library was like a second home, particularly when she was studying.
‘‘I find I can’t study at home. A lot of people find it easier to study here,’’ she said. ‘‘Sometimes I am here from 9am to 9pm.’’
Petitions are available at all Sutherland Shire libraries and the council’s customer service centre in Eton Street.
Campaign details: nswpla.org.au
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