Fight to keep library open continues for Fogo Islanders

People on Fogo Island will have to travel 11 hoursincludinga ferry tripto borrow a book if their library closes.

The Fogo Island library was one of 54 libraries slated to be closed when the province announced back in April it would be closing more than half of Newfoundland and Labrador'spublic libraries.

But the government suspended theproposed closures after fierce backlash across the provinceincluding inFogo Island.

"Let me just paint a picture of what it would take to get a library book for my child," Fogo Island resident Rhonda Rowe said at meeting Thursday in Twillingate.

In order forRowe to make it to that public consultation at what will be her nearest library if Fogo Island's closes, she had to drop her children off at their grandparents' home at 6 a.m.

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She then spent an hour waiting in line for the ferry, took the hour trip to Farewell harbour, and then drove an hour toTwillingate.

Rowe said she wouldhave to do all of that again to get home, arriving around 7:30 p.m. about13 hours after after her day started.

Fogo to Twillingate: A long journey from library to library

8 years ago

Duration 0:53

Readers in Fogo fear they'll have to make this trip from Fogo Island to Twillingate each time they want to borrow a book from the public library.

"That's what it would take to borrow the book, and the same process to return it," said Rowe.

'This is dangerous territory'

Rowe, along withas six other women from Fogo Island,made the trek to Twillingatefor Thursday'spublic consultation. The roundtable discussions are being held across the province and areled by consulting firm EY.

If it goes, it will be gone. We won't get it back.- Vicky Anstey

M'Liz Paul, who also lives on Fogo Island,believes closing a library in a rural community creates a divide within the province.

"Once the government decided to close our library, what they have done is setup a class system," said Paul.

"Once you set up a class system that changes a right the right to access to knowledge, the right to access to booksonce you've taken away from a group of people, you have created a class."

If the province does decide to close more than half its publiclibraries, Paul said thecommunities that keeptheir library will "receive a privilege" not afforded to others.

"This is very important because this is dangerous terrirtory."

Support in numbers

During their presentation, the group from Fogoheard loud applause from Summerford and Twillingate residents who were alsoat the consultation.

The library in Summerford is also on the list oflibrariesthat were told to prepare to close, before the province suspended its decision pending consultations.

I was physically ill at the thought that maybe we could be one of the ones that could close.- Norma Hamlyn

"We have students who are doing their exams through College of the North Atlantic through our library that won't be available anymore," said Vicky Anstey, of Summerford.

According to Anstey,the library also hosts volunteer-based courses for residents to learn photography and scrap-booking.

"If it goes, it will be gone. We won't get it back," said Anstey.

"If our library closes we'll have to travel an hour there and back."

'I was physically ill'

Norma Hamlyn, chair of the Public Library Board in Twillingate,says the Twillingate library is 72 years old.

"Our library was born of struggle during the Second World War when donations were collected door-to-door," said Hamlyn. She's thankful the library in town was saved, butshe's speaking out in support of communities, like FogoIsland and Summerford, that were told theirsmight be shuttered.

"I was physically ill at the thought that maybe we could be one of the ones that could close."