Newmarket Public Library lost 28% of its members who live in town between December 2022 and September 2024 – shrinking from 23,847 to 17,105. Over the same period there was a huge 48% increase in the number of members living out-of-town. (See Note 1 below.)

The Library – like all public facing organisations – was severely impacted by the Covid pandemic. There is no Library data from January - June 2020 due to the COVID 19 closure. The Town lifted its state of emergency in August 2021.

We do not know why the library’s membership plummeted so dramatically in 2023. The reasons have never been publicly reported and the NPL’s “Report to the Community 2023” is silent on the matter. The Library did not capture membership statistics in 2023 - only new Library members, not lapsed. (See Note 2 below)

Library membership must be renewed every two years. Perhaps membership was rolled over during the pandemic. If so, that would have been entirely reasonable. But we haven’t been given any explanation. How do we account for the post-pandemic shrinkage in membership?

Over a quarter of Library members are now from out-of-town

The Library Board reviewed its membership policy in January 2023 and membership is now free to all residents of Ontario. Previously it was restricted to residents of the Town and those from areas (such as other municipalities in York Region) that had reciprocal arrangements with Newmarket.

Our next door neighbour, Aurora, charges $80 to out-of-towners who do not live, work, attend school or own property in York Region. Other neighbouring municipalities such as Georgina charge non-resident fees.

Here in Newmarket the number of out-of-town members has more than doubled since 2018 from 2,714 to 5,830. Over a quarter of the Library membership is now from out-of-town. (See table right: 5,830 out of 22,935.)

Ontario-wide membership comes at a cost to the Town. Members can, of course, borrow on-line through Hoopla and other external providers and the library pays for this service on behalf of its members. That’s why the number of movies and other digital items borrowed every month through Hoopla or Kanopy is capped – to keep a handle on the Library’s finances.

Last year, the Library’s "Report to the Community 2023" tells us 23,421 Hoopla "digital items" were borrowed. We don't know many were borrowed by out-of-towners. The statistical data for 2023 - which I received in answer to a Freedom of Information request - says 25,381 Hoopla "ebooks and audio books" were borrowed. It is not immediately clear to me why there should be a difference in the figures. (Click "read more" to see the NPL table) 

Break down of Library membership by Ward

Ward 7 councillor Christina Bisanz has repeatedly asked for a breakdown of Library membership by ward to see which areas use the Library most heavily. She again requested this information on 8 April 2024 when the NPL’s Chief Executive, Tracy Munusami, presented the Library’s Report to the Community 2023. Cllr Bisanz was told an examination of membership by ward had been part of a strategic planning exercise in 2022 but the figures hadn’t been updated since then. The Chief Executive assured Cllr Bisanz she could find out. But six months have passed with no update. It's as if the councillor had never asked.

This information is critically important given the Library Board’s emphasis on outreach. The Council has ruled out a new library – or even a new branch – and some Board members openly scoff at the suggestion. They are determined to make do with what they’ve got.

With a small single library for 91,000 people and no replacement on the horizon the library sees its role as reaching out to areas and populations that are under-served. (The Library's Park Avenue location is shown as a red dot in map above.) 

Huge Variation 

The statistics for 2023 show a huge variation in Library membership by Ward. Ward 5 in downtown Newmarket is home to the Library and 23.7% of its residents are members. (Library members age 11 and younger can piggy-back on their parents’ or guardians’ membership.)

In fast growing Ward 7  – whose population is now estimated at over 19,000 - only 17.1% of residents have a Library card.

When the ward membership figures used in the 2022 strategic planning exercise are made available we shall at long last be able compare Library usage ward by ward and judge whether the outreach work is boosting membership in those areas where take-up is relatively low.

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Note 1: The table above right (Stats by Ward) gives statistics for September 2024. 

On 8 April 2024 the Chief Executive, Tracy Munusami, told Town councillors that Library membership figures broken down by Newmarket Ward were used in a strategic planning exercise in 2022 to identify areas of Town which were underserved by the Library. I am waiting for these figures.

Note 2: This is the exchange between Cllr Bisanz and Library Chief Executive Tracy Munusami on 8 April 2024 during the presentation on the Library’s “Report to the Community 2023”:

Councillor Christina Bisanz:  But I was just wondering if you sort of track where people who are visiting the library and have library cards actually live, where they come from within the town? Because certainly if you're planning to expand outreach horizons I think that would might give some indication of where there's an opportunity to just raise even more awareness of not only the physical library itself but the different services that you provide.

CEO Tracy Munusami: Through you Mr. Mayor…. the last time we did take a look at the ward split for library cards was when we were doing our strategic planning process and that was back in 2022. There were some wards that did have more library card users than others and so we've used that data to try to target where our outreaches are in the community. 

Councillor Christina Bisanz:  So did you note that there was a difference or is it equally spread across the town?

CEO Tracy Munusami: So I haven't done a follow up to see if the increase of the 5300 new library members this year has kind of bridged those gaps. I can find out.

Note 3: I filed a Freedom of Information request for sight of the full complement of Library Statistics for 2023, reported in the same format as in previous years (which go back for a decade and more). On 10 July 2024 I was told no membership statistics were captured in 2023.

I had asked for statistics showing the total number of NPL card holders; renewed membership; the number of Programs broken down by adult, children’s and total; program attendance broken down by adult, children’s and total attendance and borrowing showing the categories listed in the statistical data for 2021. I was told:

“Unfortunately, the requested statistics cannot be provided. Statistics such as renewed members and number of cardholders must be pulled in real-time, and no 2023 data is available. Due to changes in the software used for booking programming we cannot provide detailed breakdowns of program and program attendance only aggregates. Circulation statistics cannot be provided in detail in the same categories as there was a cataloguing error resulting in missing data when broken down into categories.”

Note 4:  On 28 February 2018 on the NPL website, the previous Library Chief Executive, Todd Kyle, gave reasons why the Town should expand its library services.