Essex teen misses her library

By Alyssa Leonard

 

An Essex teen is missing more than just books from her town library.

As the strike approaches its five month mark, Essex resident Paige Jimmerfield, 13, said she misses having a place to go and hang out.

“I am not able to spend as much quality time with my cousins as we are not able to meet at the library,” said Jimmerfield. “I would often ride my bike with my cousins Rebecca and Mark and go there and choose books or try and do homework.”

Jimmerfield said she has had to go to Chapters and buy books instead of getting them from the library which she feels “can be a bit of a downfall.”

“If you decide you don’t like the book and you got it from the library, you can return it without any fee,” said Jimmerfield. “But if you buy the book from Chapters then you just spent money on a book you didn’t like.”

Even though the Windsor libraries are still open, it is a challenge for younger county residents to visit when they do not have access to a car.

Jennifer Campeau is a resident of Essex and the delegate speaker at the meeting. She said with the libraries closed it has had a significant impact on the number of books she and her daughter read over the summer.

“My daughter read 45 books over the summer (of 2015),” said Campeau. “This year there was no library. She did not read 45 books.”

Campeau said her family is also missing out on the community events the library used to host, one example being a free art night.

Earlier this month, the Essex County Council held one of their biweekly meetings. Other than a brief run through of the proposed contract and a delegate speaker on behalf of the librarians, council members sped through the meeting and quickly left with no indication of moving forward with the strike.

Rebecca Wilson, a resident of Belle River and frequent library user, said she thinks the council is ignoring the librarians. She feels the council believes if they ignore them long enough the problem will just go away.

One way some residents have been able to keep up on their reading during the strike is through the library’s app known as Overdrive. The app allows members of the library to download and borrow e-books. However, Campeau said there are people like her niece with cards that expired during the strike who are now unable to use the app until they can renew their cards.

“I think that libraries are needed more than ever today,” said Campeau. “There’s so much information available to us through social media and other things that is inaccurate.”