Budget cuts to the Southern Ontario Library Service (SOLS) are going to have an impact on libraries across the province.
The SOLS budget was cut by 50 per cent by the provincial government, which has led to the suspension of the inter-library loan service.
"It's definitely going to have an impact," said Tania Sharpe, chief librarian at the Chatham-Kent Public Library. "It was such a cost-effective service. It enabled us to share our resources and borrow resources in a cost-effective way all across Ontario."
Sharpe said that's a big hit in Chatham-Kent because they use the program to borrow about 1,300 items a year.
"That could be supporting people doing their local history research. We support a lot of our students who are doing distance education. We'll bring in materials that just wouldn't meet our collection criteria."
Sharpe is worried that other services provided by SOLS will get cut.
"I am concerned that the OverDrive, which is the ebook delivery platform that SOLS organizes and looks over, that that could be impacted," said Sharpe. "Most of our borrowers use that system, so we'll have to wait and see."
An online petition has been started to protest the budget cuts. To sign the petition, click here.