Palliser Regional Library AGM
Palliser Regional Library held their Annual General Meeting on April 27th. Co-Chair of the Executive Board, Janice Lamb brought greetings. Lamb has finished her tenure as co-chair and said that she has enjoyed serving with and beside those others, as they have served the communities. She has served the Moose Jaw and Palliser Regional Library Boards since 2011 and is currently teaching at Riverview Collegiate, where she directs their improv group and one-act plays. She is the current chair of Finance and Audit Committee and the Building Committee.
Mayor Fraser Tolmie dropped by to welcome all of the attendees, representing a number of the 75 municipalities within the Palliser region commending them on the work they do. “Libraries are important and are a pillar of the community for our kids and families,” he emphasized.
Director of Palliser Regional Library Jan Smith presented the 2018 Budget. As it stands, below are some of the highlights:
· $4,800,000 cut in 2017 was renewed for one more year for regional libraries
· The newest municipal library is Prince Albert (John M Cuelenaere). They will not be entered into the grand calculation as a municipality until 20192020 budget. The library has withdrawn from Wapiti. They are currently spending 1.92 million on their library and the City of Moose Jaw, by utilizing Palliser services is spending only 1.4 million and offering the same or better levels of service.
· $2.3 million set aside to cover CNET costs (public high-speed internet access). Palliser’s annual cost $177,120.
· $500,000 for the Northern Summer Literacy Camps
The proposed budget expenditure before cost of running the Provincial Library and Literacy Office is $11,314,000, with no change expected.
The Ministry intends to go ahead with a version of the organizational audit. Consultations within the regions, cities, SUMA and SARM will be held to discuss the value of libraries to communities, the uses of libraries today, potential efficacies (library/ school new builds, library community complex new builds…), libraries relationships with other community agencies and an examination of the 1996 Public Libraries Act.
Smith presented Wood Mountain Palliser Library as the recipient of the 2017 Board of the Year award.