As five library branches in the Annapolis Valley face closure due to funding pressures, Chester is taking a different approach.
South Shore Public Libraries has opened a new branch in the community, expanding access to library services at a time when library systems across Nova Scotia are warning about financial challenges.
The contrast is not lost on CEO and Chief Librarian Ashley Nunn-Smith.
The Pictou Antigonish Regional Library is taking more steps to secure additional funding to maintain programming.
Chief Librarian Eric Stackhouse says they are currently setting up donation stations at each branch allowing users to make cash donations or electronically through their debit and credit cards. Stackhouse says another measure is establishing a fund to help PARL remain on stable financial footing.
Stackhouse says the board is trying to be realistic with financial support from the province not expected to increase, while trying to meet the needs of its users.
Source: 989 XFM
Students will see more of their own stories reflected on school bookshelves as Prince Edward Island’s novel selection committee brings in books that offer more perspectives.
The committee, made up of teachers and education staff, selects new novels to add to P.E.I. classrooms each year.
Lauren Key, who teaches English at Summerside Intermediate School, said her goal is to foster a love of reading in her students.
“We set reading goals, we talk about reading, we talk about what students are reading. We make it part of our culture here at our school,” she said.
“When you’re trying to foster a love of reading … it’s very important that they’re able to see themselves within the text.”
After about 40 years in the Waterford Valley Mall, the Michael Donovan Public Library in St. John’s is turning the page.
A sugary scent filled the one-room library as staff brought out cake for patrons on Saturday, who came together to check out books and colour pictures one last time.
St. John’s Public Libraries manager Susan Prior called the event a “see-you-soon party.” Newfoundland and Labrador’s library board is working with the provincial government to secure a new location. The lease for the Topsail Road unit expires at the end of this month.
The Bay Roberts Public Library Board recently held a celebration commemorating its 80 anniversary.
The library was incorporated into the provincial library system in 1946. The Town of Bay Roberts was incorporated in 1951, making the library older than the town itself. Originally located on Water Street, today the library is found on Cross Road.
Continue reading “NL: Mayor touts ‘generational’ impact of Bay Roberts library”
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.
Continue reading “Nova Scotia: Middleton rally urges sustainable funding for libraries – now”
“The space is out of date,” university librarian Svetlana Kochkina said as she toured The Guardian around UPEI’s Robertson Library recently. The 52-year-old building is in the beginning stages of a significant renovation project.
The renovation will include new flooring throughout the lobby, fresh paint, updated furniture, new signage, redesigned washrooms and additional seating areas. While there are no major structural changes planned, the university says the project is about much more than improving the building’s appearance.
Kochkina said the goal is to create a space that reflects how students use libraries today.
Continue reading “PEI: UPEI’s 52-year-old library is getting a major makeover”
Public libraries in Nova Scotia are relying more heavily on fundraising to make ends meet as provincial funding fails to keep up with increasing expenses.
Most public libraries in the province are required to raise three per cent of their operating budgets, but some are now far outpacing that goal, raising 10 per cent or more.
“We are smashing that target out of the water,” said Ashley Nunn-Smith, the CEO of South Shore Public Libraries, which raises 11 per cent of its operating budget through fundraising and grants.
Continue reading “Nova Scotia: Public libraries relying more on fundraising to balance books”
The Nova Scotia government says that the board responsible for libraries in the Annapolis Valley needs to better explain to the public why it has decided to close several branches.
Meanwhile, the CEO of the organization says the “deeply upsetting” decision to close five of 11 library locations was needed to stay afloat despite years of staff reductions and program cuts.
“This is the most difficult decision that a library can make,” Julia Merritt said in an interview Tuesday.
Seven-year-old Alice Arsenault, from Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley, says she’s been sad and worried since learning last week five libraries in the area will soon close.
The Kentville branch is where Arsenault takes part in chess club, and the Hantsport library is one of her favourite places to read, she said. Both are among those scheduled to shut July 20.
Regional libraries are “where I like to do all the things. And they’re trying to shut down the Hantsport library, which is extremely special to me,” Alice said in an interview with her mother Krista Arsenault in Middleton, N.S., on Friday.
The 11-branch Annapolis Valley Regional Library system announced that five of their branches will close next month due to a lack of funding. The non-profit organization says the decision was made after the provincial government confirmed there will be no increase in provincial library funding in the 2026-27 fiscal year.
