News

In our commitment to transparency and to supporting Nova Scotia’s arts and culture community, we have prepared and sent an open letter this morning to the Premier and Members of the Nova Scotia Legislature regarding the proposed provincial budget cuts.

We encourage you to share the attached letter and social posts widely within your libraries and throughout your communities.

__________

March 6, 2026

Open Letter Regarding Proposed Provincial Budget Cuts in Nova Scotia

Dear Premier Houston,

The news of the impending cuts, specifically towards arts and culture, to the Nova Scotia provincial budget was met with distress and disbelief by the members of our association. APLA represents approximately 400 library workers and library supporters across the Atlantic region. I am writing on their behalf to ask that you reconsider the proposed cuts to these sectors that are not only foundational for the community, but are critical to our regional economy.

The importance of arts and culture in our province cannot be overstated. Art programs and cultural organizations are crucial to lifelong learning and skills development for Nova Scotians of all ages. The loss of community arts programming, especially youth-focused education initiatives, will narrow access to creative learning opportunities across the province. Beyond the immediate impact on these sectors, these cuts threaten long-term negative impacts on cultural life, social cohesion and the broader economy of Nova Scotia.

The consequences of these cuts will be felt immediately in our libraries. All libraries – public, academic, special – rely on a vibrant local publishing ecosystem to build collections that reflect Nova Scotian voices and stories. Reductions to publishing grants and cultural funding weaken the very supply chain that sustains literacy, local authorship, and access to diverse Canadian content in our communities. While the Minister of Community, Culture, Tourism, and Heritage stated that “library funding was not cut”, the elimination of emergency bridge funding effectively reduces operational capacity, particularly for rural and regional libraries already managing rising costs of library materials. For many communities, even modest funding losses translate into reduced hours, fewer programs, delayed acquisitions, and staffing shortages. Libraries and arts organizations operate in partnership; when cultural programming shrinks, libraries are left to absorb increased demand with fewer resources.

While we acknowledge the fiscal pressures facing the province, it is difficult to accept that reductions to arts funding  represent prudent long-term solutions. Cost savings achieved through deep cuts – specifically to arts and culture, are offset by broader economic and social consequences. The question must be asked: will the projected savings outweigh the cultural vibrance and energy of local publishers, theatres, galleries, and festivals? Youth will lose access to creative and educational opportunities. Emerging writers and artists may be forced to leave the province in search of sustainable support. The arts sector contributes significant GDP and supports thousands of jobs across Nova Scotia. Weakening this sector undermines not only Nova Scotia’s cultural vibrancy but economic adaptability.

The concerns we raise here are shared widely across the sectors we help to promote, and the communities we serve. We respectfully urge you to reconsider these proposed cuts, recognizing the profound and lasting impact they would have on individuals, artists, organizations and the broader economy of Nova Scotia. We thank you for your attention to this matter and remain ready to engage in constructive dialogue toward a resolution.

Sincerely,

Terri Winchcombe
APLA President

The Atlantic Provinces Library Association administers the Carin Alma E. Somers Scholarship Trust. The trust provides an annual scholarship in her name to assist a Canadian citizen who is an Atlantic Provinces resident needing financial assistance to undertake or complete the academic requirements leading to a master’s degree in library science and information studies. The program must be accredited by the American Library Association. Applicants must be accepted or currently enrolled in an accredited program. The terms of the scholarship restrict eligibility to residents of Atlantic Canada. Funds are awarded on a competitive basis and financial need is a consideration.

Application, including supporting documentation should be submitted by March 31, to the attention of the Vice-President/President Elect at president-elect@cna.nl.ca

Carin Somers Scholarship Application

——
La Atlantic Provinces Library Association gère la Bourse d’études postsecondaires Carin Alma E. Somers Scholarship Trust. À chaque année, le fonds distribue une bourse en son nom afin de venir en aide à un citoyen ou une citoyenne canadien(ne) qui réside dans une des provinces de l’Atlantique et qui a besoin d’aide financière pour entreprendre ou terminer la maîtrise en bibliothéconomie. Le boursier ou la boursière est accepté(e) au programme de la maîtrise en bibliothéconomie dans une institution postsecondaire accréditée par la American Library Association.

Les critères de la bourse limitent la participation aux résidant(e)s du Canada Atlantique. La bourse est offerte sur une base compétitive et les besoins financiers sont considerés.

Les demandes avec documents à l’appui doivent être soumises d’ici le 31 mars et envoyées à l’adresse suivante: VP, President Elect president-elect@apla.ca

La Bourse Carin Alma E. Somer

Change is coming to Halifax’s North Memorial Public Library where no significant renovations have been completed since its opening in 1966.

The $34.5 million project will modernize the library, lining up the building’s accessibility features with the Rick Hansen Foundation’s gold standards and improving the building’s energy efficiency.

“It is a major renovation but our goal is to keep it familiar to the community,” said Megan Gainer, director of facilities with Halifax Public Libraries.

Gainer said the library has about 1,000 users per day with only one program room and one small meeting room, both of which are booked around the clock. The renovations will double the space accessed by the public by making use of the building’s lower level which has become a private area for library services such as the IT department.

“The plan is to actually take over that whole lower level again and give it back to the public,” Gainer said.

The project’s design is being guided by public input to ensure the library’s historic and community value is preserved through the renovations.

The library was built around the same time African Nova Scotians were displaced from the city’s historic Africville community. It became an important community space and saw the birth of the Black History Association in 1987. The library continues to be important to the community today; in 2019, the space was used to discuss illegal and discriminate street checks by police.

“The residents were displaced, they were put into a home that didn’t feel like home, and so they really turned the library into their home,” Gainer said. “We want to make sure that it remains that familiar anchor within the community, so things will change but things will also stay the same.”

The project is still in its design phase which is expected to wrap up this year. The plan is to begin renovations in 2027 with a 2029 completion. During that time the building will be closed but a separate, temporary location will be leased nearby so the public can continue to have library access.

A community engagement session will be held at the library on Saturday, Feb. 28 from noon to 4 p.m. to discuss the project and receive feedback from the community. There is also a survey available on the project’s website.

Source: CBC Nova Scotia

The Accessible Reading Symposium is a virtual, two-day, bilingual event designed to help library staff and readers with print disabilities learn about accessible reading in Canada.

The symposium brings together readers, authors, libraries, content providers, publishers, and technology developers/providers to share practical demonstrations, introductory knowledge, and different viewpoints on accessible reading.

The Symposium’s goal is to:

  • help everyone better understand accessible reading and formats.
  • share the experiences of readers with print disabilities.
  • strengthen knowledge among libraries, content providers, publishers, technology providers, and readers.
  • provide library staff and readers with print disabilities the opportunity to explore available tools, formats, and services.

The Symposium will take place March 11 – 12 and it is free to attend. It is organized by the National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS), the Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA) and Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ).

Learn more or register here.

The decision by Correctional Service Canada (CSC) to eliminate all librarian positions in federal penitentiaries across Canada — coupled with its intention to end funding for the CEGEP education program serving incarcerated people in Quebec’s federal institutions — represents a sweeping and regressive dismantling of rehabilitative infrastructure within our prison system.

Taken together, these actions signal a stark retreat from education, literacy, and meaningful rehabilitation. They undermine decades of progress and contradict both Canada’s domestic law and its international human rights commitments.

Sign the open letter here by Friday, February 27, 2026

This year’s provincial budget is defunding Nova Scotia books.

The Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage sent letters yesterday informing Nova Scotia publishers that it is eliminating a $700,000 fund that helps local publishers publish new books by local authors.

“It’s drastic and devastating,” says Nimbus manager Terrilee Bulger. “Books are an important pillar of our culture. This budget decision by Premier Tim Houston’s government will mean that fewer Nova Scotian creators will get their books published. Not only that, Nova Scotian publishers will be forced to lay off staff, and spend less on local freelancers.”
Nova Scotia publishers release more than 100 new books, most by local authors, every year.

“We need a government that will defend Nova Scotia books, not defund them,” adds Bulger. “New books are vital for local booksellers and their business. They bring people to public libraries too.”

Nova Scotia’s Publisher Assistance Program parallels similar funding available to locally owned publishers in all nine other provinces. Nova Scotia’s program was already less generous than in most other provinces.

“This budget cut will make Nova Scotia the only province to cancel support for publishing books that is the backbone of our entire industry,” she adds.

Among the other publishing companies affected are Breton Books, Macintyre Purcell Publishing, Formac Publishing, Pottersfield Press, Conundrum Press, and Fernwood Publishing.

“Without this provincial support, we’ll have to cut new titles from 15 to 7,” says Formac CEO Jim Lorimer. “Books won’t get written, they won’t get published, and they won’t be there for readers to enjoy.”

“It’s a small, proud, and diverse industry, encompassing everything from graphic novels to children’s books to scholarly works, employing local artists, authors, staff, and more,” states Jeff Cox, President of MacIntyre Purcell Publishing. “Removing 100% of provincial support leaves Nova Scotia as the ONLY province in Canada that does not support its book publishers and authors.

Lesley Choyce, prolific author and the Publisher of Pottersfield Press states: “Since Pottersfield Press was founded in 1978, provincial publishing support has allowed us to publish a wide range of Nova Scotia authors that includes Maxine Tyne, George Elliott Clarke, Joan Baxter, Rita Joe, Harry Bruce and at least 100 others, many of whom were first time authors. The loss of the Publishers Assistance Fund will be devastating to the continued growth of culture in the province and silence many new creative voices that need to be heard.”

The publishers are hoping that Premier Tim Houston and Finance and Treasury Board Minister John Lohr will remember the lessons of the disastrous film tax debacle created by the previous government more than 10 years ago.

“One of Tim Houston’s best qualities as a leader is that he has the courage to listen and the courage to change a government decision,” notes Bulger. “I am hopeful that he will consider the damage this budget decision will have on local book publishers, the broader Nova Scotian cultural economy.”

Source: Atlantic Publishers Marketing Association

House Finance Committee amendment reinstates protection for Library Book Rate

During its clause-by-clause review of the Budget Implementation Act (Bill C-15), the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance adopted an amendment put forward by the government to reinstate protections for free literature for the blind and reduced postage rates for library materials in the Canada Post Corporations Act.

The committee’s report to the House of Commons includes:

In accordance with its Order of Reference of Wednesday, December 10, 2025, your committee has considered Bill C-15, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on November 4, 2025, and agreed on Monday, February 23, 2026, to report it with the following amendments:

Clause 196

That Bill C-15, in Clause 196, be amended by adding after line 30 on page 296 the following:

“(3.1) The Corporation must provide for

    1. ) the transmission by post, free of postage, of letters, books, tapes, records and other similar material for the use of the blind; and
    2. ) a reduced rate of postage for library materials lent by a library to a borrower, including by means of an interlibrary loan.”

News of the amendment was shared by the National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS) and the Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA) in an email to their stakeholders.

Bill C-15 must now be sent back to the House of Commons for Report Stage and 3rd Reading. Once passed, it will proceed to the Senate. We do not expect any major changes to this section and certainly none that should cause further harm to Canada Post rates for library materials or materials for the use of the blind.

A huge thank you to everyone who supported and helped in this important advocacy work. NNELS and CELA worked collaboratively with the Canadian Urban Libraries Council (CULC), the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL), and Public Library InterLINK on this issue. We also worked alongside CNIB, Braille Literacy Canada and other disability partners – all of our voices together have collectively made a difference.

Source: Librarianship.ca

Join us online for a heartfelt gathering as we remember and celebrate the life and legacy of Dick Ellis. It’s a great chance to share stories, honour his impact, and connect with others who admired him. Don’t miss this special event where memories come alive and friendship shines!

Date: February 23, 2026 by Zoom

3:30 pm PST /4:30 pm MST/5:30 pm CST/6:30 pm EST/7:30 AST/8 pm NST

Please register here

Speakers: Mike Nyby, Diane Keeping

You can also leave tributes to Dick at https://exlibris.ca/history/memories-and-tributes

Hosted by former members of the Canadian Federation of Library Associations Intellectual Freedom Committee

An Amherst, N.S., public library employee warns that reduced staff hours will slow services and book deliveries between libraries, negatively impacting users.

Adam Davies, a library assistant at the Four Fathers Memorial Library, told CBC News on Friday that he received a letter earlier in the week telling him and seven other employees they will be working 10 per cent fewer hours.

“We’ve taken on so many other responsibilities, especially after COVID,” he said. “A lot of our public libraries are focused on social cohesion. We’re focused on well-being. We were really developing programs that engage our youngest readers.”

The person responsible for children’s programming at the branches saw their hours cut, said Davies.

The cuts affect employees who work at the headquarters for Cumberland Public Libraries, of which there are seven branches.

“The job is pretty full and pretty demanding and there’s lots of things to do … We’re not having the time to get these things accomplished,” said Davies.

CBC News contacted the Cumberland Regional Library Board for comment, but did not receive a response.

Ashley Nunn-Smith is the chair of the Council of Regional Librarians, which represents the nine regional library systems. She said over the past few years, libraries around the province have been silently making cuts, but that “2026 represents a real cliff.”

“We have stretched our budget as far as it can be stretched. There is no way to stretch it any further,” said Nunn-Smith.

A year ago, the council requested an additional $1.6 million in emergency funding, which was granted by the province.

However, the council’s request to change a funding formula that better reflects higher costs and inflationary pressures has not happened.

What the province is saying

The province said it is reviewing the recommendations.

“The annual budget is currently underway and decisions about library funding are made through this process,” wrote a spokesperson for the Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage in an emailed statement.

“More information will be available when the provincial budget is tabled.”

The budget will be released during the upcoming sitting of the legislature, which begins Feb. 23.

Public libraries received $16.4 million in from the province in the 2024-25 fiscal year, with the same amount budgeted for 2025-26.

Financial pinch

As for Davies, he said the reduced hours will cost him $5,000 annually.

“My son just started university, he’s in his first year of university,” he said. “We’re all kind of feeling that financial pinch and this is one that we’re going to have to make some adjustments to build into our financial plan now.”

Source: CBC Nova Scotia

The AC Hunter Public Library in St. John’s unveiled a new display with books about difficult topics for children. Librarian Jan Moffett hopes stories about things like addiction or the death of a loved one can help children and parents share and grasp these sensitive concepts.

Video at link

Source: CBC Newfoundland & Labrador