Officials with the Nova Scotia government and Annapolis Valley Regional Library have agreed to another meeting as the book is set to close on five branches next month.

The library’s board announced plans on June 1 to close branches in Hantsport, Kentville, Lawrencetown, Port Williams and Middleton as of July 20 due to funding pressures.

Julia Merritt, CEO of the regional library, said in an interview Monday that the next meeting has yet to be scheduled. But she said without an increase in funding, the closures will go ahead.

“AVRL has had only a 10 per cent increase to its sustainable operating budget since 2009 and costs have increased enormously since then,” she said.

Government trying to gather info

In an effort to contend with funding challenges, Merritt said permanent staffing levels have been reduced by 25 per cent since 2015 and the regional library is looking at a further reduction of 20 to 25 per cent to remain financially sustainable now and in the near term.

Merritt said a meeting several weeks ago with Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage Minister Dave Ritcey and officials from his department was essentially to answer the government’s questions and provide information about their finances.

Ritcey was not available for an interview Monday, but Finance Minister John Lohr said the government is still trying to gather information about the situation.

“We haven’t really felt like we’ve got a good understanding of how AVRL made the decision to cut the five locations that it cut,” he said in an interview.

Lohr said it’s the government’s understanding that the library board considered several options to address its funding shortfall and the government wants details about those options and how it arrived at the current path, which includes the closure of two of the region’s three most visited branches.

“Understanding that is important to us as we go through this conversation.”

The minister noted that the government is facing difficult financial times. The most recent budget calls for four years of cuts to the civil service and broader public sector, although the line was held for library funding.

But officials at libraries across the province have said that they’ve been calling on the province for years to revisit its funding formula, which has remained unchanged since 2020, to reflect their increased costs and ensure services continue.

A 2024 committee made up of representatives for libraries and the government considered various options to increase funding to address concerns about sustainability, however ultimately no changes were made.

Can’t predict outcome

Earlier this month the chair of the Council of Regional Libraries wrote to Ritcey and other government officials to say that without an increase of about $12.8 million to the core provincial operating grant and subsequent annual adjustments for inflation, more branch closures around the province could come to pass.

The council has yet to receive a reply from the province.

About 70 per cent of libraries’ operational funding comes from the province right now, totalling $16.4 million. The remainder of library funding comes from municipal governments and fundraising.

Lohr said he expects that once Ritcey’s department finishes gathering information, it would ultimately fall to the Treasury Board to determine next steps.

“I can’t predict how this will all turn out,” he said. “I don’t know.”