Canary Islands Libraries in Limbo: 2019 Law Unenforced

The library system in the Canary Islands is struggling, stuck in a difficult and uncertain state. Even though a law for reading and libraries was unanimously passed in 2019, very little has been done to put it into practice.

This concern was raised by the Association of Librarians and Documentalists of the Canary Islands to the Regional Parliament. They pointed out that local governments are not committed to supporting this vital public service.

Ángeles Domínguez Guerra, the association's president, and her colleague Natalia Navarro Sosa, explained that the 2019 law is still just a dream. The group is disappointed because after a promising start, a change in government in 2023 seems to have brought things back to square one, with no real progress and a bleak future.

One major problem is how the Canary Islands Reading Plan 2023-2030 is being used. This plan was meant to encourage reading and help reduce inequality, but it hasn't achieved its goals. Also, the Canary Islands Library Map, which is crucial for planning and managing libraries, is out of date. It's supposed to be updated every 18 months, but the last valid version is from July 2023.

The situation is even worse for the rules that should make the 2019 law work. Seven years after the law was approved, these rules still don't exist. The association reported that the process to create them was stopped and restarted, with no progress since, leaving library policies in limbo. Similarly, a plan for library staff development, published in January 2023, hasn't been put into action by the government in terms of training.

This lack of action shows in how the Canary Islands compare to the rest of Spain. A study on public libraries in Spain found the Canary Islands near the bottom in most areas, only ahead of Ceuta and Melilla. Out of eleven measures, the region only did well in how much its collection grew (third place). However, this number is misleading when you look at how many books there are per person, where the situation is poor.

Librarians highlighted deep-seated problems: the islands' libraries don't have enough space, nor do they have enough staff. Nationally, there's one librarian for every 5,170 people, but in the Canary Islands, it's one for every 6,857. Libraries also fall short in the number of books borrowed, money invested, and visitor numbers. The association believes this lack of commitment comes not only from the regional government but also from island councils and local towns. Notably, the Minister of Universities, Science, Innovation, and Culture, Migdalia Machín, left the parliamentary meeting at the start of the session.