For the past two years, a leak has been left to fester in Fort Garry Public Library — and advocates say it points to a bigger issue with funding of public services like libraries in Winnipeg.
“We see a pattern where small problems become large problems because the city keeps deferring maintenance on them,” said Joe Curnow, with the Winnipeg library advocacy group Millennium for All.
“We are a grossly underfunded system.”
At the Fort Garry branch in south Winnipeg, tarps cover a large chunk of the ceiling in the children’s section, with more tarps and hoses lining the tops of bookshelves. A bin is nestled between computers to catch rain drips.
The city says it currently has no timeline to fix Fort Garry’s roof and municipal funding is stretched thin.
An October 2023 city report that compared Winnipeg’s library system to those in three other cities found Winnipeg’s per capita spending on library collections was the lowest among the four cities.
It also found per capita, Winnipeg’s system had a smaller collection of electronic/digital items than Edmonton, Hamilton or Regina.
Winnipeg also had the lowest full-time staffing levels among the four cities – roughly 36 full-time-equivalent library staff positions per 100,000 people, compared to 47 in Hamilton, 52 in Edmonton and 78 in Regina, the 2023 report said.
“We have to give libraries enough resources to do the work that they want to do,” Curnow said.
“The funding is where all of this starts. It’s the beginning and the end of the issue.”
Alison Mercer has been going to the Fort Garry library since she was a young girl.
“The city doesn’t prioritize libraries in the way they should,” Mercer said.
She says libraries are one of the few public spaces for people to gather at no cost.
When Fort Garry was among Winnipeg libraries threatened with potential closure as a cost-saving measure ahead of the 2020 budget, Mercer started a petition to save the library, which garnered nearly 10,000 signatures.
Ultimately none of the libraries were closed.
Mercer wonders why the Fort Garry library hasn’t been designated as a heritage building, which could provide an opportunity for additional grants to be put towards repairs.
The Pembina Highway building was built in 1959 and is on the city’s nominations list for historical designation.
However, the councillor for the Fort Garry area says that historical designation wouldn’t mean an automatic boost to funding.
And with limited budgets, the city has to prioritize some fixes over others, said Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry Coun. Sherri Rollins.
“Things like leaking roofs do happen,” she said.
“Just like the repair schedule on your own house or car maintenance, some things are super urgent and some we wait to get the proper estimates.”
Curnow says the city needs a new approach.
“We hear from staff that they are barely holding it together,” said Curnow.
“While I think a lot of people love their job, it’s hard to feel valued in your workplace when the roof is literally caving in,” she added.
“Winnipeggers deserve better.”
The Fort Garry library branch has had a leaking roof for the last two years, but the City of Winnipeg says there’s no timeline to fix the problem due to limited municipal funding.