The message was clear.
“What do we want?”
“Sustainable funding!”
“When do we want it?”
“Now!”
The chant, by nearly 100 people in front of Annapolis MLA David Bowlby’s Middleton office June 12, was almost as loud as the car and truck horns of passing motorists supporting the call for adequate funding for public libraries.
The Annapolis Valley Regional Library (AVRL) board announced five libraries would close in mid-July due to inadequate provincial funding dating back half a decade. Middleton’s Rosa M. Harvey Middleton and Area Library is one of the casualties.
The June 12 protest started with Bob Dylan’s Times They Are a Changin’ blasted over the PA system sitting on the sidewalk. It was soon followed by Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger. They were anthems long associated with social movements, civic engagement, and calls for change, underscoring the crowd’s demand for sustainable public funding for libraries.
As speaker after speaker took the microphone, a theme emerged.
Libraries are community hubs and safe spaces where people can access the internet, search and apply for jobs, build resumés, attend meetings, access programs and services, and find support during difficult times.
They are not just about books.
Youth at risk
Several speakers described libraries as vital resources for marginalized and vulnerable residents, including youth at risk and people with disabilities.
“I grew up here in this town and the library’s always been extremely important. And one of the things that I want to stress is Annapolis County has the second-highest poverty rate in Nova Scotia,” Judy Peppard said when rally host Nina Newington handed her the microphone.
“So think about it for a minute. I’ve worked with at-risk high school students my whole life who go home to houses that do not have computers, do not have internet, do not have cellphones.”
From left, Caet Moir, Kelsey Anne Learn, and Tim Carr were among the people voicing concern June 4 over the Annapolis Valley Regional Library’s unexpected decision to close the Isabel & Roy Jodrey Memorial Library in Hantsport.
Hantsport residents rally to save library, host read-in outside locked branch
Berwick Annapolis Valley Regional Library branch supervisor Barbara Lipp, left, and Annapolis Valley Regional Library CEO Julia Merritt at the Berwick Library. Merritt says the announced closure of five locations is not reflection of the value of any one branch or community.
Lack of sustainable funding behind ‘painful’ decision to close Valley libraries
She said a lot of jobs require people to apply online, and a lot of homework assignments require students hand in printed versions.
“If you don’t have a computer, you don’t have a printer,” she said, adding libraries must stay open so the poverty rate doesn’t worsen.
“What are these families supposed to do? How are you supposed to encourage your children to get out of these situations where the parents have nothing, they’re working hard, they’re trying their best, and encourage them to do well when we take away the only things that are free for them to go and get access, and get information, and use computers, and use printers? This is important. Do not let this go. They need to fund – no, no, they must fund our libraries.”
Joanne Hightower agreed.
She had a clipboard and was urging library supporters to sign a petition asking the provincial government to provide funding to keep libraries open.
People First
Kristen Foster also spoke to the crowd, letting those gathered know her People First group supported the rally and depended on the library.
“For a long time, we used the library to hold our monthly meetings. We were never turned away anytime we needed them,” she said in an interview, adding People First is an organization that supports individuals with disabilities to learn how to advocate for themselves and use their voices.
“They make sure they are treated and seen as people first and empower others to stand up for themselves.”
She said her members use the library for fast printing if needed and always go to there when they need to use a computer.
“Some of our members go and utilize the books that are there, along with the computers for their personal resources as well,” she said. “They also like to just go there to use it as a quiet place to get away from the busy town.”
Depending on libraries
Peppard took to the microphone again to emphasize the marginalized in the county with the second-highest poverty rate in Nova Scotia, with the second-highest poverty rate in the country, depended on libraries.
“Most of these families who are with children under the poverty rate here do not have cars,” she said. “They cannot take their kids to Wolfville or Annapolis Royal. They do well to get them to school and they come to school by bus. Is that the next thing? We take all the buses away and the kids have no way to get anywhere. We’ve got to keep the libraries open and we have to work together.”
Wolfville’s Frances Vanderwel worked in the library system for years before retiring. Her work included many years on the bookmobile, which was cut years ago as a way to keep the library system afloat.
“I came here to support you because we are one system with many branches,” she said. “I want you all to remember that we are in this together.”
She said the funding inadequacy affects every single branch.
“And it’s really, really important that we keep all of these branches open,” Vanderwel said, adding she’s already been to several protests.
“The whole game of dividing us is pretty strong and I just want to emphasize this is not Wolfville versus Kentville versus any other library,” she said. “Wolfville branch is now going to be expected to serve the whole area of Port Williams, Hantsport, Kentville at the same time that they’re being reduced from six librarians to two. Like it’s insanity. It’s absolute insanity.”
Bowlby responds
Bowlby did not make an appearance at the rally, but did return the Register’s request for comment.
“The minister met with the Annapolis Valley Regional Library board last week,” Bowlby said June 14. “It was a productive conversation, but there are still questions the board needs to clarify to the public on their decision to close these branches.
“Regional library boards in Nova Scotia are independent organizations. The province provides annual base funding to support core library operations, and boards determine how that funding is used, including decisions about branch locations, services, and collections. That funding has remained in place this year.”
The Progressive Conservative MLA said libraries that offer broader programs and services are welcome to do so, but that needs to be grounded in what their budget can support.
“Libraries are not alone in facing pressure to operate more efficiently and sustainably. It’s a challenge shared across the public sector. But those decisions need to be guided, first and foremost, by the need to minimize impact on communities,” he said. “That’s why we want to understand what options were on the table, and why this was the path chosen. We’re taking what we heard back for further review.”
Waiting for financials
He said government was still waiting to receive AVRL’s financial statements from the previous fiscal year, and there are questions from the recent conversations “we want to work through.”
“As of Friday morning, the department did not have financial records and I am meeting with municipal partners early next week to look at future possibilities,” Bowlby said in his June 14 statement. “We made no cuts and libraries are community hubs that belong to community to meet their unique needs.”
Bowlby noted that in Lawrencetown the village has made announcements that it is prepared to open independently of AVRL and he would be willing to work with any community partners as well to find a solution.
“As for the protest at my office, people have the right to organize peacefully and let their voices be heard, and I appreciate that folks are doing exactly that,” he said. “I would like to emphasize that the province did not cut the libraries, it was a decision by AVRL alone. There has just recently been a new library open in Chester, where they have exactly the same funding model, but instead of fundraising three per cent, the South Shore Library Board have been raising 10 per cent or more to add to the funding pool. We are looking forward to the meeting with our municipal partners next week.”
Since the closures were announced, Tory MLAs in the region have posted on social media that the funding hasn’t been cut.
And while that is true regarding the base funding, the province had provided bridge funding in the past few years that wasn’t included in the 2026-27 budget the Tim Houston super majority government passed earlier this year.
Core provincial funding has remained the same since 2020.
Some politicians have said they were shocked by the board’s decision, but the board has been letting people know the funding formula needed to change for years.
In December 2023, board chairperson Janet Ness wrote to Allan MacMaster, who was then the minister of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage. The letter also went to the region’s MLAs, municipal governments, and two senior members in MacMaster’s department.
Ness wrote it would have to draw on its reserves to maintain current levels of service through 2024.
“AVRL estimates that approximately 60 per cent of the reserve will be depleted as of March 31, 2025, and we will not be able to sustain current levels of service in 2025-26,” she wrote. “Operational expenses are so lean that mitigating the shortfall would be the equivalent of closing five of the 11 library branches.”
Julia Merritt, the regional library’s chief executive officer, told Postmedia earlier this month that its unrestricted reserves of about $600,000 would almost entirely be used to offset the deficit in 2026-27.
In late 2025, the board posted that its sustainable funding had increased 10 per cent since 2009 while inflation had risen by 43 per cent. A library funding review committee also submitted research with different options to the minister in 2024.
‘Very discouraging’
Pam Lunnon Brown wasn’t at the June 12 rally, but she attended one the week before.
“It’s very discouraging. There seems to be a lack of information from both sides as to how decisions have been made,” she said in an interview. “We are only hearing from the AVRL board that there isn’t enough funding (which is clear) with no real discussion of how those particular choices were made and the government is essentially unresponsive. So we are hurtling towards only one devastating solution with no other discussion.”
She said the AVRL board has said in the past that the lack of funding could bring about cuts and closures.
“But I don’t think anyone, including local government, saw total branch closures coming,” she said. “Are there no other solutions? Fewer open days at all library branches, more community and volunteer partnerships, cuts evenly across the board, the creation of library patron fundraising, etc.? Could they not just reduce the service at all branches and keep the service limping along until the next election or a more generous funding arrangement?”
She said she would hate to see library branches closed, books removed, and doors locked.
“Diminished libraries can be revitalized, but I worry shuttered libraries would never be reopened.”
Town owns building
While rumours abound about the future of Middleton’s library building, the town said nothing has been decided. It issued a news release to clarify some facts.
“The town owns the building in which the library is currently located and does not charge a lease for the library’s use of the building; however, the town does not own or operate the library itself,” it said. “The library is part of the regional library system and its operations, services, and staffing are managed independently of the town.”
In its 2026-27 operating budget, Middleton allocated $20,000 for building expenses related to the library.
Rumours on social media suggested the building may become the new home for RCMP in Middleton. The RCMP office is currently located at town hall.
“The town remains committed to supporting public library service for residents and continues to fulfill its responsibilities as a participating municipality within the regional library system,” the town’s release said, adding any changes in the use of the building would go through council and a public process.
Middleton library closure was an agenda item under new business for the town’s June 15 meeting.
Meeting outdoors
After the rally was over, Foster sat on the ground with members of her People First group between Bowlby’s constituency office and the Needs convenience store parking lot. This was their meeting site. They thought of walking all the way across town to Rotary Raceway Park to hold their meeting, but it was hot and muggy, and a tree near Bowlby’s office provided shade.
It wasn’t by choice. Not only would the Rosa M. Harvey Middleton and Area Library be closed for good come July 20, it was currently closed as staff prepare for shuttering the space. It was all spelled out in an announcement on the regional library’s website June 5.
“Due to the lack of sustainable operating funding, the AVRL is no longer able to maintain its present level of service,” the news release said. “Maintaining all 11 library branches is not financially sustainable under the current funding model, and significant changes will be required across the region.”
It said effective July 20, the Hantsport, Kentville, Lawrencetown, Middleton, and Port Williams branches would close.
But in order to complete the restructuring process and support staff through this transition, the release said all branches would be closed from June 1-14.
Rallies will continue
Newington said there will be no end to protesting.
“These are grim times. It’s hard to be looking at what’s coming at us. But when we come together, there’s a kind of joy. It’s the joy of people driving past and honking. It’s knowing you’re not alone with this,” she told the crowd. “We’re not stuck at home going, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe they’re doing this now.’ Because when we come together, we have a lot more power, but we also have a lot more fun.”
Host Nina Newington speaks to residents gathered to protest library cuts outside of Annapolis MLA David Bowlby’s constituency office in Middleton on June 12. Photo by Lawrence Powell /Annapolis Valley Register
Another rally, at the same place in Middleton, is expected for June 19 at 10 a.m.
Source: Annapolis Valley Register