Ontario's libraries are asking the government to create a provincewide digital public library, to ensure residents in smaller municipalities have the same access to materials as people in large, urban centres.
Dina Stevens, executive director of the Federation of Ontario Public Libraries, says libraries are mostly funded by municipalities, so each library system has to purchase their own material.
She says ebooks cost three times as much as print books, and they can be especially expensive for libraries when they're being purchased on a library-by-library basis.
Similar systems exist in other provinces, and the former Liberal government promised to create an Ontario Digital Public Library _ though that came mere days before the start of the 2018 election campaign that gutted the party.
Stevens estimates creating one for Ontario would cost the province $9.4 million per year, and she's hoping to see that commitment in the upcoming provincial budget.
A spokesperson for Tourism, Culture and Sport Minister Neil Lumsden says Ontario's libraries are a key pillar in building strong, vibrant communities.