Laurie Davidson and Daniella Levy-Pinto
On March 16, 2021, Employment and Social Development Canada announced they were increasing funding by a million dollars for the Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA) and the National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS), organizations which produce accessible books for people with print disabilities. What the announcement didn’t mention was that the funding merely replaced the million dollars that the federal government had already cut.
In November 2020, the federal government announced an annual 25 per cent reduction in funding to CELA and NNELS, with their funding to be eliminated completely by the 2024–2025 fiscal year. This “one-year reprieve,” as CELA executive director Laurie Davidson referred to it in the organization’s response, does not disguise that both organizations’ federal funding is still on track to be eliminated entirely.