Honourable senators, I rise today in the Senate Chamber to speak about a valuable part of many Canadian communities: our libraries.

Here, in Ontario, Public Library Week is October 16 to 20, and I am honoured to rise today to speak on the importance of our libraries.

For generations, libraries have served as rural hubs for access to information and technology. In modern times, they are places for gathering by bringing people together to educate, to inform and to grow our abilities — not just as individuals, but as a collective.

I’m proud to continue to support rural communities here — in the Red Chamber — and a significant part of that is supporting the institutions that connect us all.

Libraries continue to work diligently to support Canadians from all walks of life. They teach us, foster community engagement and provide access to the greater world around us. I think it’s important, colleagues, that we remain diligent in our support of these valuable gathering places.

According to the provincial pre-budget submission by the Federation of Ontario Public Libraries and the Ontario Library Association, many rural locations struggle to pay for or are unable to afford many high-quality resources available in larger cities. This particularly affects those in smaller, rural, remote and First Nation communities.

People living in communities of less than 5,000 have access to less than half the e-books and less than one third of the online databases as those living in areas like Toronto, Ottawa or Montreal — despite accessing them twice as often per capita as people in large urban communities.

For nearly 25 years, funding to libraries at the provincial level has nearly stagnated, creating a reliance on federal and municipal funding in the face of increasing costs and inflation.

We must continue to advocate for the maintenance and growth of these valuable spaces that guarantee every Canadian access to information, knowledge and community engagement.

I thank our many librarians throughout Ontario, and from coast to coast to coast, for their diligent work supporting Canadians — offering valuable learning opportunities and support for people throughout this country.

I hope that my honourable colleagues will join me in celebrating the many benefits that libraries give to Canadians, especially those in rural communities, and that here — in the Red Chamber — we can continue to speak about the value of these highly regarded institutions.

Thank you. Meegwetch.