It is surprisingly difficult to get information from Newmarket Public Library about its own operations. Just basic stuff such as the type of material being borrowed. 

And this from an organisation whose Delphic new slogan promises: “Anything and Everywhere”.

For years I’ve believed the Library is simply too small and no longer fit for purpose. This was the firm view of the Library’s previous Chief Executive, Todd Kyle, who is now running Brampton’s eight libraries.

In our area Georgina and East Gwillimbury have three libraries each and Aurora and Whitchurch-Stouffville have a single library like Newmarket but with much smaller populations.

The current library board is not pressing for a new library – or, indeed, an additional branch – and one of its members, Councillor Victor Woodhouse, ridicules the very idea.

And although some members of the Town Council in the past have either championed a new library or have been sympathetic, these days are long gone. The Council decided early in its current term that a new library was not a “strategic priority”.

Who uses the Library?

But the one question that won’t go away is this: who uses the library? Is the building in Park Avenue essentially a neighbourhood library for Ward 5 and the Downtown or are its members and users spread across Newmarket?

When the Library Chief Executive, Tracy Munusami, presented her “Report to the Community 2023” to the Town Council on 8 April this year, Ward 7 councillor Christina Bisanz asked her if she tracked where people visiting the library and have library cards actually live. This might give:

“some indication of where there’s an opportunity to raise even more awareness of not only the physical library itself but the different services you provide.”

The Chief Executive said she looked at the ward split for library cards in 2022:

 “And there were some wards that did have more library card users than others and so we’ve used that data to try to target where our outreaches are in the community.”

She told councillors she hadn’t done a follow-up since then but she could find out.

I’m waiting.

Perhaps the Library Board when it meets this Wednesday (18 September 2024) can ask for this basic information and share it with the Mayor and Council and public.

Statistics

For over a decade, a full range of statistics was routinely reported to the Library Board which allowed for meaningful comparisons to be made year over year. This is no longer the case. The 2023 statistics, for example, don’t even give the total number of Newmarket Library card holders.

I asked the Town for sight of the full range of statistics for 2023 – beyond those selectively highlighted in the “Report to the Community 2023”. I was told these were not available:

“Unfortunately, the requested statistics cannot be provided. Statistics such as renewed members and number of cardholders must be pulled in real-time, and no 2023 data is available. Due to changes in the software used for booking programming we cannot provide detailed breakdowns of program and program attendance only aggregates. Circulation statistics cannot be provided in detail in the same categories as there was a cataloguing error resulting in missing data when broken down into categories.”

Back in April, the Mayor John Taylor told Tracy Munusami there was a lot of interest in Library data and he wanted her to share “some of the good news story”.

Telling us the number of Library members by Newmarket Ward would be a good start.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.