The Community, the Public Library and Literacy Services

Sue Emson

For more than 15 years, I have worked as Saskatoon Public Library’s literacy librarian. The city is just the right size, large enough to maintain some cultural amenities and small enough to avoid some of the problems associated with larger Canadian centres. Saskatoon supports a firstclass arts community, a highly regarded university and community college, a handful of good restaurants and a repertory film theatre. With all this and no rush hour to speak of, it is very easy to live comfortably in Saskatoon and remain largely unaware of the serious problems facing this city.

Complacency about our community is becoming more difficult to maintain. In 2001, the Canadian Council on Social Development reported that Saskatoon has the greatest rate of change in economic segregation of any urban centre in Canada. A November 3, 2001, article in The Globe and Mail characterized Saskatoon as the "Harlem of the Prairies" and a November 2002 study by Campaign 2000 put the child poverty rate in Saskatchewan at a horrifying 18.1 per cent of the province's population.

Like most public libraries in Canada, we see ample evidence of the social problems facing our communities. Many of our patrons have personal hygiene problems because they are unable to bathe or wash their clothes. We frequently deal with patrons who have mental health or behavioural problems. One of my earliest experiences working the reference desk in the Saskatoon Public Library involved assisting an unkempt man who said, "Can you get me a book on this? My doctor says I have it." He then gave me a piece of paper with leukemia written on it. These experiences are disturbing but not unusual. It is heartening that so many of Saskatoon's marginalized citizens use the public library.

When I am not working the reference desk, my efforts are focused on the people who are not using the library. Much of my time is spent organizing collections of library materials for adult literacy and English as a second language learners. A large part of time is also spent trying to generate the money required for library literacy outreach programs from an already heavily committed public library budget.

Partnerships and outreach

The Saskatoon Public Library is very fortunate to enjoy strong and long-term partnerships with local literacy organizations. Part of my job involves sitting on the Board of Directors of a local literacy organization, READ Saskatoon. READ and the public library have maintained a cooperative relationship for 24 years. READ was established in 1979 when forward-thinking representatives from the public library, the community college, the university, the local newspaper, a church group and government departments gathered to discuss their concern over literacy services in Saskatoon. READ's relationship with the library has developed over the past five years. We have evolved from simply providing free meeting rooms and literacy materials to a model of cooperative programming that incorporates family literacy, adult literacy and library orientation.

The Saskatoon Public Library does have outreach programs. Staff from Children's Services go to local schools to promote reading, and the library runs programs for seniors in residences. Literacy programming, however, is primarily done in cooperation with outside agencies.