Christina Cattana
A GIS-Assisted Evaluation of Toronto Public Libraries: Assessing Impacts of Proposed Closures © 2013
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the Toronto Public Library network of branches in the context of proposed branch closures. It aims to answer two research questions: (1) is the current network of Toronto Public Library branches effectively serving the population? (2) in case of a municipal decision to close libraries, what spatial re-organization should be considered in order to minimize the impacts on service coverage? Through the use of Location-Allocation methods, two test scenarios are investigated. It is revealed that areas with proposed closures will experience impacts in service. Branches with drastic alterations in demand would see increases in use, and therefore would require expansion of physical size and or restructuring of programs and services.