The chief librarian for Pictou-Antigonish Libraries (PARL) says their new fundraising campaign is to just make ends meet while branches are financially stretched thin.
Eric Stackhouse tells Acadia News they would like to see The Library Fund raise $300,000.
“This new fund has two goals,” explains Stackhouse. “One, to take care of the shortfall. Second, to begin building a long-term amount that can help even things out over the years.”
He says there are various things that contribute to the struggle to just keep afloat including salaries, book collections and staffing in addition to meeting the increasing expectations from the government and community.
“People want more libraries,” says Stackhouse. “We’re trying to do more on less and less and less money, and then the inflation that’s happening right now.”
‘I feel sadness’
Earlier this month Annapolis Valley Regional Libraries announced they were closing five branches due to a lack of extra funding from the province.
According to Stackhouse, the situation was avoidable.
“All I feel is sadness any time a public library service is lost or reduced, especially in rural areas,” says Stackhouse.
Earlier this year, PARL flagged the urgency of a lack of money when the province did not change the funding formula for libraries, which has not changed in at least a few years.
“The government knew because of the 2024 funding formula research that status quo core funding was not an option. They did not act on that recommendation,” says Stackhouse.
PARL launched a public awareness campaign in December that saw thousands of constituents write letters and emails to the provincial representatives explaining the importance of libraries.
However, since, PARL has had to make some cuts.
“We’ve eliminated 1.5 positions. Some through attrition, some through layoffs. And we’ve closed two branches in New Glasgow and Antigonish on Sundays,” says Stackhouse.
He says he hopes the government will fix the issue, but in the meantime, they are reaching out to library users and organizations that support library service and asking for help.
“We want to get on with our jobs.”
