Empty shelves at Saskatoon library raise questions

Current and former Saskatoon Public Library employee are raising concerns about what they describe as deep cuts to the collection of books, music and movies that have resulted in empty shelves and undone years of hard work.

The library director, however, says shelves were emptied to ensure new accessibility standards are met, and that reductions at some branches were offset by increasing the number of titles in storage at the central branch.

According to the institution’s 2016 annual report published last April, there were 551,939 items in the collection.

Library spokeswoman Janna Sampson said Thursday in an email that the collection held 580,616 in 2017.

“The top shelves in most locations were too high, and the bottom shelves in most locations were too low, so we had to remove books,” Sampson said, referring to the city ’s standards, which promote proactive removal of barriers to accessibility.

Multiple current and former employees who spoke to Postmedia News told a different story. They said library managers want to “declutter” at the branches, and instructed staff to withdraw hundreds of items from circulation.

Lois Davidson, who spent 33 years working at the library before retiring in June, said her instructions while employed at the J.S. Wood Branch were to “pare down the collection” and “get rid of more” to fit new, smaller shelving units.

“That happened over and over,” Davidson said.