Province gives one-time $600K to libraries
Funding falls short of what’s needed to bring N.L. libraries up to national standards
“We’re still having a little bit of a party here,” Education Minister Krista Lynn Howell told reporters after the provincial government announced $600,000 in onetime funding for the provincial library board.
That amount is broken down into a one-time allocation of $500,000 to the board’s core operating grant and a one-time amount of $100,000 to support expansion of early years programming to include digital literacy tools for children.
“We are excited about the additional resources that we will be able to provide, not just in terms of physical and digital books, but with improved library spaces,” Andrew Hunt, executive director of the Provincial Information and Library Resources Board, stated in a news release issued by the provincial government.
SIGNIFICANT UNDERFUNDING
In 2012-2013, provincial funding for library materials decreased $250,000, from $1.2 million to $950,000, and has remained at that amount ever since.
Receiving $250,000 less per year over 12 years amounts to a $3-million loss to date for libraries.
At the same time, the cost of books increased about 40 per cent over that period, causing the province’s libraries to acquire 38 per cent fewer books in 2021-2022 than they did a decade earlier.
An Ernst and Young review of the province’s public libraries in 2016-2017, completed at the request of the education department, found the province’s libraries had been “significantly underfunded for some time” and that funding per capita has been significantly below the national average.
COULDN’T COMPLETE ALL GOALS
In response, a Future State Plan listed goals for the public library system. All of the goals which required no additional funding were implemented by the board, but to implement the remainder of the Phase 1 goals alone required another $1.71 million.
Monday’s funding announcement was less than one-third of that amount, so Saltwire asked why.
“It was about what we could do right now with the resources that we had,” Howell said.
‘SMALL STEP’
Saltwire asked Howell how a one-time amount of $600,000 will fix significant underfunding.
“Every little bit helps,” she said.
“It’s a small step right now as we build on support for our library resources. As
I said, it was what we had available at this moment to be able to move and implement quickly into our library resource centres.”
As to why the provincial government suddenly decided to provide this one-time injection of cash, Howell explained that after the COVID19 pandemic, the government realized the additional value that public libraries brought to communities.
However, there is speculation that the Liberals might soon call an election.
NO FIRM COMMITMENT
Saltwire asked Howell if she would commit to increasing the annual allocation for library materials. She did not.
“We recognize that the work that the libraries are doing requires an increase in funding, so we’re continuing those conversations with the board and with the individual libraries to see what it is that best suits their needs, and how we can invest in them to continue supporting them in their communities,” she said.
In September 2023, the St. John’s Public Libraries Board sent an open letter to the premier and various ministers, highlighting stagnant library funding. The board told Saltwire on Monday that it has not yet received a response from the government.