In the 2017 Provincial Budget there were was a significant reduction in the amount of funding provided to Saskatchewan Regional Libraries. In this, the Parkland Regional Library funding has been reduced by approximately 58 per cent, said a release from the Library.
In reaction to this significant loss of funding, which will affect existing services and collections, the Parkland Regional Library (PRL) board chairperson responded by writing to the Minister and by calling a special meeting of the PRL board, it said.
In the letter to Minister Don Morgan, Parkland Regional Library Chairperson, Sharon Armstrong, speaking to the decrease in funding stated: “There will be an immediate negative impact on service delivery that will have long-term effects on the Province of Saskatchewan's ability to maintain a high quality of life and attract and retain population.”
Further to the 2017 Provincial Budget funding cuts, the Parkland Regional Library Board met for a special meeting to discuss and plan for the immediate funding shortfall, it said. Coming from the special meeting, it was decided that there be no branch closures or reduction in hours, at this time but to proceed with the following: five staff layoffs at PRLheadquarters; three permanent part-time position layoffs at Yorkton Public Library; a reduction in the materialsbudget; a reduction in the amount of e-resources available from the Parkland Regional Library website, www.parklandlibrary.ca; courier delivery to all branch libraries to be reduced byhalf; holds from other regions and municipalities no longer be available as of April 10; patrons with cards from other regions are still able to borrow material but returns are expected to be to the location where they are borrowed, and PRLboardgovernancebudgethasbeenreducedby25 per cent.
Despite these immediate actions, a deficit for the 2017 fiscal year remains, it said. The PRL board has committed to implementing further cost saving measures and will not make changes to the 2017 municipal levies adopted at the 2016 AGM. The PRL does not expect the municipalities of the region to pick up the budget shortfall for 2017.
“The Sask Party has put our regional libraries in an impossible situation, said a release from CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees).
Facing a 58 per cent deficit with no warning means our communities lose out on the important programs and services our libraries provide,” said Alex Lenko, CUPE national staff representative. “Our members who work in the library system love their jobs and are proud of the important work they do to provide an amazing service to the people of Saskatchewan. CUPE will fight these cuts and stand up for our members’ jobs.”
While the library is not looking at closing branches or reducing hours, the funding shortfall means fewer new books and less e-resources, an end to holds from other libraries, and an end to the ability to pick up books at one branch and drop them off at a different branch, the release said. These changes come on top of the news that the world recognized provincial inter-library loan system is being shut down.
“These funding cuts will have a colossal impact on the wonderful services and programs our libraries provide,” said Tom Graham, president of CUPE Saskatchewan. “These cuts come in a budget that also cut funding to Kindergarten to Grade 12 education, STC, universities, regional parks, municipalities and health services. It is important that everyone who is concerned about these cuts contact their MLA and let them know they are concerned.”
CUPE represents over 700 library workers across the province.
Effective April 10, as a result of the budget cuts to Saskatchewan’s public libraries, a critical service that made all Saskatchewan public library materials available province-wide will be disabled, said a statement on the impact of the provincial budget cuts on services from Saskatchewan Information and Library Services (SILS).
This service, established in 2009 by the Saskatchewan Information and Library Services consortium, allowed all Saskatchewan residents with a library card to place holds on materials from any library province-wide. The requested material would then be delivered to their local branch.
Saskatchewan’s “One Card, One Library” services were designed to provide equitable access to library materials across the province, the statement said. A total of 693,112 items were shipped among library systems to fill requests in 2016 and the service is touted nationally as a sterling example of collaboration and resource sharing.
However, with provincial library funding being severely cut, or in the case of Saskatoon and Regina, completely eliminated, services like this will necessarily follow suit.
Previously, SILS gave Saskatchewan residents access to a borrowing catalogue of approximately 1,000,000 items. Now, with people only able to borrow from within their own library systems, selection will be cut drastically. For example, Parkland residents will lose access to nearly 700,000 items.
While the SILS consortium regrets having to make this decision, there will be many more difficult decisions to face in the coming weeks relating to how, and if, many of Saskatchewan’s public libraries can move forward at all, it said.
The provincial cuts, while significant for municipal library systems (Saskatoon and Regina), leaving a minimum of a $650,000 shortfall in their operating budgets, will be devastating for regional libraries. Regional systems rely heavily on provincial grants to operate, and with their operating budgets being reduced by as much as 58 per cent, it totals $3.5 million.
With operating budgets being cut across the province, all of the library systems will be forced to make changes to the level of services available, and some systems may simply be unable to continue providing services altogether.
Although the 2017/18 provincial budget does provide funds for the transportation of materials between library systems, this funding falls far short of the full scope of costs associated with the One Card, One Library service, it said. The funding from the provincial government allows for the transportation of materials between the headquarter location of each library system.
Each library system is then responsible for the costs of transporting the materials from the headquarter location to the individual branches.
With the drastic budget cuts, there is no funding for the transport of materials between headquarters and rural library locations. Losing critical operating funding for facilities and utilities, staffing, programs and collections, means libraries no longer have the capacity to support services such as this.
Another service made possible through SILS allows Saskatchewan library card holders to physically borrow from the collection of any library system in the province, and then return these materials to their home library location. For example, Yorkton residents could visit a Saskatoon Public Library location, sign out materials, and then return the materials in Yorkton. Now, due to budget cuts and the related decrease in economical transportation options, the SILS board will be asking the public to return materials directly to the locations from which they were borrowed. It will take further study to determine if SILS can continue to support this aspect of the One Card philosophy.
As per provincial budget allocations, the interlibrary loans programs (which allows for loans between provinces) will continue.
Libraries have a rich and well-documented history of helping build strong, healthy communities, and are particularly important during economic downturns. These most recent library budget cuts will prove especially damaging to our province’s most vulnerable, specifically the economically disadvantaged and newcomers, as well as those in rural communities.
Recognizing their place as a vital public service, many other governments across Canada and around the world are re-investing in public libraries to augment critically important programs and services, the statement says. Increasingly, libraries are much more than book repositories. They are technologically-vibrant hubs of creativity and community meeting spaces that uphold core democratic values, such as equality, diversity and intellectual freedom.
“While we strive to leave no one behind, these dramatic and unanticipated budget cuts have significantly blurred the future of Saskatchewan’s public libraries,” it said.
