Library plan to implement staffless hours at Pittsburgh branch continue to spark protest

Jeff Green | Nov 24, 2021

A protest at three Kingston Frontenac Public Library (KFPL) branches, including one at the Sydenham branch, brought a message of concern about some of the implications of a plan to extend hours at the Pittsburgh branch by 22 hours per week, by implementing a technology based, staff-less service.

As part of their 2022 budget request, which went to the City of Kingston for approval this week, the KFPL board approved a proposal at their October meeting to make a $100,000 one time funding request to support the purchase of software and hardware towards making the Pittsburgh branch a pilot location for this new type of service.

While building an maintenance costs at the Frontenac County based branches is paid for by local municipalities and is not part of the KFPL budget, this $100,000 cost is being included in the budget and Frontenac County ratepayers will be paying $13,000 towards these upgrades to the Pittsburgh branch even though it is located within the City of Kingston.

KFPL Head Librarian Laura Carter told the KFPL board that this was being done because Frontenac County library users, specifically people from Howe Island and Storrington District of South Frontenac, could benefit benefit from these extended hours.

She also said that the Pittsburgh branch pilot, if successful, could be extended to some of the busier branched in Frontenac County, and mentioned the Sharbot Lake and Sydenham branches as potential locations where branch hours could be extended.

The Pittsburgh location has been chosen for the pilot because expansion of services in that part of Kingston will bring residents in East Kingston the same level of service as the rest of the City. The Pittsburgh branch is slated for an upgrade in 2026, although that project is not funded, and has been identified as an under-served region since 2006.

When asked by aboard member why she is not proposing that the an extension of regular service, requiring only 22 extra staff hours a week, Carter said that the money is not available.

“City Council has made it clear that they are expecting the library to conform to an annual increased of not more than 1.4%, and we cannot afford to add 22 hours of service with the current fuinding that we have” she said.

She also said that the $100,000 one time cost, which is above the 1.4% budget increase for 2022, would cover the staff costs of 22 hours per week for about 2.5 years. The annual cost of the service, once implemented, is estimated at $10,000.

The Hamilton Public Library has implemented staff-less hours as an enhancement of their services, and KFPL senior staff have consulted with Hamilton PL staff in preparing this proposal.

The proposal is not new. It was brought forward in 2018, as a provincial grant application, but the grant application was not successful.

The KFPL board heard at their October meeting that in 2018, CUPE Local 2202, which represents 100 full and part-time KFPL staff, were supportive of the grant application provided that it was an enhancement of service and would not result in any cuts to staffing hours throughout the system.

When contacted by the Frontenac News this week, Jillann Rothwell, the current President of CUPE Local 2202, said that she was not on the union executive in 2018, but as a member of the union she did not hear anything about the union local supporting the project. The union does support extending services, such as the implementation of a 24 hour materials locker, which is now in place at the Isabel Turner branch in Kingston.

But in her own presentation to the November KFPL Board meeting, Rothwell said that Local 2202 is opposed to the staff-less hours at KFPL branches.

She said the union has safety concerns, concerns about normalising a less than complete library experience for patrons, as well as a concern for the staff at other branches who will have the responsibility to monitor video cameras at the Pittsburgh branch as an added responsibility part of their normal work day.

“Our libraries are living spaces where people can find a sense of community. Our staff help to create this sense of community and work to ensure that the materials and resources of the library are kept safe and secure for all patrons,” she told the board.

She said that, based on her analysis of data that Local 2202 provides to CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees) the number of full time unionised KFPL employees has gone down by 12 since 2006. She also said that 58% of part-time Local 2202 employees would like more hours and 42% would like full-time hours. Pages within the KFPL system, who are represented by Local 2202a, “are only paid 2% over minimum wage, which is under the $17 an hour living wage that Kingston City Council has identified.”

The core of the funding problem for KFPL, according to Rothwell, is that it is funded entirely through property taxes and is therefore not sufficiently supported by the business community through income taxes.

“We would like us all to be working together to lobby for a more sustainable funding model, instead of trying to de-humanise library services.”

Natacha Lees, a KFPL patron and former contract employee, lives in Sydenham. She wsa one oft he organisers of the information protest on Saturday (November 20)

She said that libraries “are human institutions, they are not just repositories of books ... our main concern is that this project is the beginning of a transition away from staffed libraries, and we have worries about rural branches in the future. We feel this is a step towards that eventuality.”

She also mentioned that because any one attending a staff-less branch will be “under video surveillance at all times, we have serious privacy concerns”

As the primary funder, approval of the capital expense at Kingston City Council as part of their 2022 budget will result in a $13,000 requisition from Frontenac County in 2022. Frontenac County Council will not have the option of opting out.

Laura Carter said that the funding approval will enable library staff to set out an request for proposal for the necessary technology and will also set up a public consultation process among KFPL patrons and the public at large.

“Just having the funding does not mean this will go forward. There will be public consultation before a final decision is made about the enhanced hours,” she said.

KFPL has just completed a branch hours survey, which did not include questions about staff-less hours, but did include questions about increased service.

KFPL materials can be ordered online by library card holders for delivery to any branch in the system and e-books and streaming service is available as well. Cards are available to all Frontenac County residents. And, as of January 1, 2021, KFPL did away with late fees for overdue items.