rabble series

Ottawa janitor Natalie Guitead works three jobs; moonlighting as a nanny and an event planner to make ends meet.

Canadian janitor Lyle Skrapek talks about injuries, the physical toll working takes on his body, and the invisibility of his job.

The physical challenges of custodial jobs are hard to overstate. Lyle Skrapek says that sometimes at the end of the day, he feels like he has played a game of hockey.

Unions have improved job conditions for many janitors, but spiralling costs of living require people in the low-wage sector to work themselves to exhaustion and forgo time with their families.

Amid an opioid crisis that claimed 4,460 lives last year in Canada, some libraries are arming themselves with naloxone in an effort to save their patrons' lives.

To move forward with reconciliation in the library, more Indigenous librarians are needed at higher levels to create spaces for the revitalization and renaissance of Indigenous cultures.

Canadian libraries are trying to reconcile the institution's colonial history and how to address the needs of patrons previously neglected by the library -- including Indigenous peoples.

The Toronto Public Library is continually looking to extend its reach beyond its four walls to connect with people, including those who may never have stepped inside the library before.

Public libraries are changing how they serve vulnerable and marginalized patrons -- and proving that they're home to more than just books.

As libraries across Canada face mounting challenges and funding cuts, the question asked by skeptics is the same: does the public library still matter?