The Peterborough Public Library has temporarily halted its controversial decision to eliminate three unionized librarian positions, including the children’s librarian.
The proposed downsizing was part of an effort to reduce the library’s operating budget by $120,000 in the wake of budget cuts made by city council earlier this year.
In a statement shared on Monday, the City of Peterborough said that the plan to reorganize the library’s staff has been “paused” so that it can “consider other options for meeting budgetary constraints.”
“While the approved budget needs to be followed, the City is exploring all options to ensure the most effective means to reduce the budget while maintaining the same level and quality of service, through constructive meetings with Peterborough Public Library staff,” the statement read.
The announcement comes after immense pressure from community members to reverse the proposed staff cuts, including an open letter signed by more than 100 Canadian authors and entertainers. Among the letter’s signatories were novelists Margaret Atwood and Madeleine Thien, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Neil Young, former Governor General Adrienne Clarkson and beloved children’s entertainer Fred Penner.
Hilary Evans, an organizer with Our Peterborough — a grassroots advocacy group that launched the open letter — expressed cautious optimism in a phone call with the Star on Tuesday.
“We are glad that the city came to their senses,” Evans said, while noting that the city did not reverse its decision, but only “paused” it. “That implies that they can hit play again at any time, and we know the library still has to find savings somewhere.”
“We’re also very grateful for the groundswell of public support from writers and artists, because I don’t think the city would have listened to us without it,” Evans added. “In fact, they weren’t listening to us without it. So this got their attention, and we’re happy about that.”
In a joint email sent to the Star, Peterborough Mayor Jeff Leal and Councillor Matt Crowley, who is a member of the Peterborough Public Library Board, said that the decision to pause staff cuts was made “to consider ideas and suggestions that have come forward through conversations with Library staff on other ways to achieve the Library’s approved 2025 Budget in a less impactful way to the Library and the community that uses the Library.”
An unpopular decision
Earlier this year, during municipal budget-setting deliberations, Peterborough City Council voted to cut the library’s operating expenses as part of an effort to make savings in all city departments to reduce property taxes.
In response, the library announced a plan to reorganize its staffing to reduce its expenses. The plan would result in the elimination of three specialist roles: the adult and teen programming librarian, the librarian who manages information systems (also known as the access services librarian) and the children’s librarian.
City officials said that two new positions would be created and that library services, including children’s services, would be maintained, but “delivered in a different way to help reduce cost increases.”
The news was met with swift backlash from the community. On May 16, around 200 people gathered for a rally outside the main Peterborough Public Library branch, demanding a reversal of the funding cuts, while city council and the library’s leadership were inundated with hundreds of letters from concerned residents. An online petition launched in April has already racked up more than 2,300 signatures.
Last week, dozens of Canadian authors, musicians and artists signed an open letter calling the move “a giant step in the wrong direction” and urging the city to reverse the decision.
“Children deserve safe, welcoming, and magical spaces where their imagination and creativity are encouraged and celebrated,” read the letter.
“That the City of Peterborough is considering eliminating these essential roles is deeply disappointing. In a world that feels increasingly indifferent and even hostile toward children’s wellbeing, this move is a giant step in the wrong direction.”
Moving forward
In their email to the Star, Mayor Leal and Councillor Crowley said that the city “will work with the Library Board, Library staff, the union that represents Library staff, and management to choose the best path forward while still following the Library’s approved 2025 Budget.”
“Peterborough Public Library is a valued, core community service,” the email added, noting that the library’s operating budget is increasing by eight per cent this year.
Sean McCarthy, the chief steward for CUPE Local 1833, a union representing the library workers, told the Star that the city’s decision to pause cuts is unclear: “As far as we know, these service reductions are still on the table.”
McCarthy said the union now considers the cuts a 2026 budget issue.
Evans, the co-founder of Our Peterborough, said that organizers will be following public consultation meetings for the 2026 budget very closely, and will continue to demand that no cuts are made.
“I think if you value your community, you invest in your library and that’s what Peterborough needs to do,” Evans added. “There are much smaller communities that have many more librarians on staff, and we know that there’s a great return on investment when you invest in a library.”
