Public libraries play a vital role in the lives of Canadians, and are extensively used by Canadians from coast to coast.

• 34% of Canadians over 15 visited the library at least once in the past year. This number exceeds the 31% who attended a professional sporting event and the 30% who attended a concert or performance (Statistics Canada, 1995, p.17)

• in 1995, Ontario residents visited their libraries 71,929,270 times (Cultural Partnerships Branch, 1996, p.3)

• researchers working in Nepean, Ontario concluded that "The results from the present survey show that a higher percentage of Nepean residents go to a library (69%) than to a movie (65%), a concert (55%), or a gallery (43%)" (Ekos Research Associates, 1990, p. 18/23)

• "public libraries have a high volume of use and attract more users than almost any other cultural/education agency" (Nova Scotia Regional Libraries Funding Formula Review Committee, 1993, p.36)

• librarians in large urban public library systems of which there are more than 35 in Canada, answer well over 16 million questions each year (CALUPL Annual Statistics 1995, p.3). Librarians in smaller centres also answered millions of questions. Questions come from Canadians of every age, background and interest level and are on every conceivable subject including:

• large urban public libraries in Canada circulated 116,895,861 items in 1995 -- that's 4.5 times the population of Canada

• public libraries planned and delivered thousands of programs (in 1995, 77,415 in large urban public libraries) which were attended by millions. Program topics included:

• a Communications Canada survey demonstrated that Canadians spend on average 4.4 hours per week reading for pleasure (Freve, 1993, p.1)

• at Lloydminster Public Library, 33% of patrons felt the most important role of the library was as a centre of recreational reading (Lloydminster Public Library,1994, p. intro)

• at North York Public Library, 63% of patrons use the library for pleasure reading (North York Public Library, 1995, p. 26)

• at Milton Public Library, 84% of patrons use the library for recreational reading (Cresap and Barnard, 1987, p.D4)

Research shows that people who make use of the library tend to do so regularly. For many Canadians the public library is part of the fabric of their everyday lives.

• a majority of patrons use the library "at least once a week" (North York Public Library, 1995, p.23)

• "44% are heavy users, ... 52% visit libraries once a month .. only 5% are light users."(Fraser Valley Regional Library Strategic Plan, 1995, p.4)

• 58.4% of patrons in Lloydminster use the library at least once a month. (Lloydminster Public Library, 1994, p. intro)

In poll after poll Canadians demonstrate the importance of the public library.

• in Alberta, research shows that nearly nine out of 10 Albertans regard the library as an "essential service, vital to the community"(Calder Bateman Communications Ltd., 1991, p.26)

• "96% of the public regard the public library as either very or somewhat useful to the community" (Ontario Libraries and Community Information Branch, 1995, p.3)

• Nova Scotians "view public libraries as an essential service ... slightly over three-quarters rated the public library as essential ... [while only] ... 1% viewed these services as non-essential" (Omnifacts Research Ltd, 1996, p.ii)

The public library has a meaningful role to play as the Information Age continues to challenge us. Now more than ever Canadians need information for success at work, at school and at home. Libraries can help to find answers to many questions: where to live, how to plan and get a job (from job skills to resumes and the job interview process), what to buy (and not to buy), where to travel, what university or college to attend, and where to find up-to-date health or legal information. Given the increasing importance of information, the last few decades have witnessed demonstrable, sometimes dramatic, increases in public library use.

• over the past fifteen years the number of readers in Canada increased 20 percentage points. Yet Canadians find themselves with less discretionary income, and thus bought 33% fewer books today than they did in 1978. Research shows that in an economic downturn such as this, people turn to libraries to fulfil their informational needs. This is corroborated by the fact that in the same fifteen years "public libraries reported an increase of 53% in their loans" (Freve, 1993, p.1a)

• an Ontario study found that the public library was "the most popular place for obtaining books (41%)" (Goss, Gilroy & Associates, 1990, p.35)

• research in Alberta revealed that 50.7% of those surveyed say their main source of reading material is borrowing from a library (Lloydminster Public Library, 1994, p.8 )

While the question of funding of public libraries is a challenging one, given the current fiscal environment, reflecting on this issue is important "precisely because it raises vital questions about the type of society in which we wish to live. What is considered essential to the life of the nation? What is valued by its citizens?" (Boucher, 1995, p.16)

For millions of Canadians, the answer is public libraries.