Over the past five years, the purchasing power of libraries across North America has declined significantly as book prices have risen by more than 20 per cent alongside increased digital item licensing costs.
For the Calgary Public Library (CPL), that inflationary pressure borne of both a weakened Canadian dollar and rising publisher and content distributor pricing has led to a situation where they can only purchase four books for the same amount that used to purchase five.
The Calgary Public Library Foundation, in support of CPL, launched The Fifth Book campaign on April 8 to address that gap in collections for Calgarians to borrow.
“Demand for library resources has never been heavier. We had 15.1 million library collection items circulate last year. We have 818,000 members, and we’re seeing 425 new members a day,” said Tracy Johnson, CEO of the Calgary Public Library Foundation.
“So, collections are incredibly busy, and we are feeling that with additional wait times that we really hope to be able to remove and reduce with the support of our community.”
She said that the continued support of funders on both the municipal and provincial levels has allowed them to continue to provide support for the purchase of items for the library’s collection, but there is a need to get that lost fifth book back into the hands of borrowers.
“We have a goal to raise $1 million, which is an urgent need that the library has experienced with rising book prices, increased demand from library users, and additional pressures that really have created this need today,” Johnson said.
Sarah Meilleur, CEO of the Calgary Public Library, said that the reduced purchasing power means that collections staff are having to make harder choices about where dollars are going.
“Sometimes it doesn’t make sense to try and buy more copies of a popular title to reduce the hold lists. There’s different strategies we can use, particularly with our [electronic] collections. But sometimes it doesn’t make sense, because that means you’re choosing from something else, and we don’t want to be in that position,” she said.
“It’s important that we have collections that reflect and respond to the diversity of our community and meet the information needs of everyone here in Calgary.”
Balance in getting collections right, and hold times low
Meilleur said that as an industry, there have been conversations about the increased input costs like paper that have led to higher book prices, and then on the digital collection side, emphasis on providing fairer compensation for authors and publishers.
“Just like the costs have increased at the grocery store, there’s been lots of conversations about the costs of digital materials, and from an industry perspective, there’s been lots of conversations with publishers around the costs of licensing and e-books,” she said.
“We want them to be successful, too. We want authors to be successful. We are there to support, but we also need to make sure that we have the funds available to provide solid, robust collections for our community.”
At the Central Library starting on Tuesday, and then throughout the upcoming weeks, the Calgary Public Library Foundation will be showcasing facts about the increased costs for materials and about the library’s collection through the use of placards shaped like empty books.
They’ll be placed in locations where that fifth missing book would be located, said Johnson.
“Imagine taking away every fifth book, remove it from your shelf. What stories, what experiences, what lessons would your life be missing? What if one of those books that you removed was the book that inspired you to pursue your career? What if one of the books you removed was the book that taught you a skill that you use every day?” Johnson said.
“What if the book that you removed was the book that sparked your love of reading and learning?”
For more information on The Fifth Book campaign, or to donate, see libraryfoundation.ca/thefifthbook.
