I've just received word from SOLS that SOLS has been forced to cease interlibrary loan service effective immediately, in effect until at least May 31st 2019.

If you've ever requested something your library needed to bring in from a university, that's now over. If you've ever requested something your library needed to bring in from the next library over? Well, that's done, too. We can't bring in anything from the Ontario Archives or the LAC. We all of us now only have access to the books held in our own libraries, and nothing beyond.

The fact that we have access to electronic information via databases and online journals is small comfort. People need to have computers and high-speed internet to access the information, which tends to be least true in rural and remote areas where patrons can live hundreds of kilometers from their local library. And, since SOLS and OLS-North do so much to help libraries afford those online resources, their future is also unclear.

There's no way around it: These cuts hurt our communities. They hurt our ability to grow as people, and as a society. It hurts most those who are most vulnerable. Please join your library workers in making as much noise as you can about this, so we can be sure everyone in the province has access to the kind of information they need to grow and participate in society.