Five Annapolis Valley Regional Library branches that were set to close July 20 have been granted a reprieve.
At a special library board meeting in the Wolfville on July 13, members voted to use a portion of remaining, unallocated reserve funds to keep the doors of the five branches open until Sept. 30.
Board chairperson Janet Ness said all the board’s decisions regarding the potential closures have been made with a great deal of forethought, research, and heart.
“None of these decisions has been made lightly, and we’re in this position because our funding formula has not increased since 2020,” Ness said.
She said the board can no longer afford to operate a full library system that the citizens of the Annapolis Valley deserve. Ness said she never thought she would have to sit around the library board table and make decisions to close branches.
The Annapolis Valley Regional Library announced a major restructuring of library services on June 1, including the closure of the Hantsport, Kentville, Lawrencetown, Middleton, and Port Williams branches on July 20.
At the July 13 meeting, Kentville Mayor Andrew Zebian, who represents the town on the board and requested the special meeting, moved to use remaining reserve funds to keep the five branches open temporarily. The motion was amended to use a portion of the remaining reserve funds.
Zebian also moved to keep the five branches open until late October, but this was amended to Sept. 30 so that more of the funds remaining in the reserve can be maintained in event of an emergency. The regional library currently has about $160,830 left in reserve, but this will be reduced to about $88,800 by the end of September.
The board also voted to go back to the eight partner municipalities to ask that they provide the full increased budget amount requested earlier this year. The library board will restate its initial ask and request that all partner municipalities reconsider the amount given. The municipalities can consider contributing more than the original ask.
If all eight municipalities agree to provide the full amount that was originally requested, all 11 regional library branches could remain open until March 31, 2027. Only three partners, Kentville, Annapolis Royal, and West Hants, provided the full amount requested.
Kings County Coun. Emily Lutz, who represents the municipality on the library board and serves as treasurer, said she would ask that they be kind to the municipal funding partners. They all contributed additional funds this year, even if it wasn’t the full amount requested.
“Every single municipality willingly put their hand up and said libraries are important. Libraries are important to my constituents, and we went to our municipal units and asked them to contribute more than they needed to, and they all said yes,” Lutz said.
She said this was very different than the response from the provincial government, and the municipalities deserve a lot of credit. Lutz said the library board’s decision to grant the pause and ask the municipalities for more funds would put the onus back on the municipalities, “who only own 26 per cent of this problem.”
Following the meeting, Zebian said he’s thankful the board came together to consider a reprieve.
“I would have liked to have a couple more months, but Sept. 30 gives us a little more time. We can go back to the funding partners and the province again.”
Zebian said it’s now up to the partner municipalities whether the five branches will remain open until March 31. He said now is the time to come together in a regional effort to make this happen.
He’ll be reaching out to them, as he’s now wearing two hats, as a board member and a mayor. Zebian pointed out that county residents sometimes use town libraries, and in some cases vice versa, so all the municipal partners are in this together.
He said whether all 11 branches remain open beyond March 31 depends on a new, sustainable provincial funding formula that is fair and equitable for the municipalities and the library board.
The five regional library branches will be kept open until Sept. 30 using a combination of 2025-26 and 2026-27 staffing models. The three branches located in villages would operate under the 2025-26 service model, while the two branches in towns would operate under 2026-27 restructured staffing and hours.
This equates to 8.8 full-time equivalent positions plus casuals. Hantsport and Lawrencetown will have one full-time equivalent position; Port Williams, 1.2; and Kentville and Middleton, 2.8.
In a staff report for the special meeting prepared by CEO Julia Merritt, it says the cost of pausing the planned restructuring and continuing operations at all 11 branches until March 31, would range from $355,336.26 to $537,631.35. These costs would be entirely for employment related to service at the five branches scheduled for closure.
All eight municipal units agreed to increase their 2026-27 contribution to some extent, with two stipulating conditions that could not be met. The use of the funds from the other six municipalities is already accounted for in the 2026-27 library budget.
If the library board was to ask the partner municipalities for the full 50 per cent increase over 2025-26 funding levels, without conditions, the total additional request would be $217,970.
Source: Annapolis Valley Register