James MacDonald, Executive Director of the Northern Lights Library system, one of seven in the province, says Alberta’s libraries are critical infrastructure that need to be funded.
In 2023, the Province’s budget increased funding for public libraries by 10.5 per cent, adding $3 million, for a total of $33.5 million. It was the first increase to libraries since 2015.
Rural Municipalities of Alberta says in its community services position statements, “In many cases, rural libraries serve as community hubs, particularly for new Albertans. As such, a consistent and long-term approach to library funding that recognizes a continuously growing population is needed in order to sustain rural libraries as hubs of information, distance learning, and community building.”
Parkland Library System (PRLS) supports 49 public libraries in the province, including those contained within Flagstaff County borders. PRLS reports that in 2022, 43 per cent of those libraries had a deficit budget. That’s not sustainable, PRLS says, and down the road, measures such as cutting hours of operation, programming, and collection budgets will likely need to be considered.
PRLS serves a population of approximately 226,899 people spread over 24,153 sq. km.
In 2022, PRLS delivered 883,300 books and saw 1.39 million digital and physical items in circulation to its members.
Books and other collection items are moved between libraries using vans owned by PRLS. Hailey Halberg, Marketing Specialist for PRLS says a van purchased in 2023 was 63 per cent more expensive than vans purchased in 2020.
Libraries receive funding directly from the Province in the form of an Operating grant and the Rural Library Services Grant. Libraries also receive funding and financial support from their municipality and county, but how that funding is determined varies between municipalities.
Libraries use provincial and municipal grants, as well as local fundraising to keep the doors open, the librarian or library managers working, and then also partner with other community groups and individuals to offer unique programming and services for their community.
Alberta Libraries are governed by the Alberta Libraries Act and Regulations. Libraries are a municipal service. The council of a municipality may, by bylaw, establish a municipal library board. The council then appoints a board of between five to 10 members to run the library with no more than two councillors sitting on the board. Library boards are autonomous, their municipal
council’s only approve appointments to the board and approve each year’s budget.
Libraries are funded by their municipality and the library boards fundraising efforts.
Depending on population, if the funding is the minimum required by the Government of Alberta, it triggers a grant from the province. Each library receives a base grant of $9000 plus a $5.60 per capita grant.
Each municipality in the system pays a membership fee to PRLS based on a per capita rate.
Members without a library such as Flagstaff County also pay PRLS for library service to county residents. Parkland Regional Library receives a government grant for all municipalities that have a library and a rural services grant for those that do not have a library.
In the fall PRLS’s board passed a motion to approve Parkland’s 2024 budget with a 0.43 increase to its per capita requisition, which was approved by 68 per cent of member municipalities.
PRLS Director Deb Smith says, “Parkland Regional Library is essentially a cooperative providing members libraries with book purchasing at a greatly discounted rate, up to 33 per cent, digital resources such as e audio books and other online resources, up-to-date computer hardware and software, inter-library loans, delivery, cataloguing, and IT support. Libraries also receive a per capita grant from PRLS to purchase materials.
One big advantage to having the seven library systems in the Province is the inter-library agreements in place between them.
Smith says, “Library service is seamless throughout Alberta. A library card entitles the owner to access libraries in all of Alberta.
“On vacation in Grand Prairie and need some reading material? Take a book out and when finished, return it to your local library.
“Libraries are resilient, were a huge resource during covid, and with very large fiscal constraints provide communities with a bang for their buck.
“Regardless of socio-economic status, race, religion, all people are welcome in our libraries.
Libraries in our region provide a variety of programs for all ages and are a social gathering place. Libraries have high-speed internet available to the public and computers for personal use.
“Libraries are a source of up-to-date, reliable information in the technology age when there is so much fraudulent information available.”
Local libraries do a variety of yearly fundraising, from community calendars to raffles, to special food item sales to try and keep their budgets balanced, keep their doors open as much as possible, and ensure that the valuable services they provide remain available for the residents in their communities.
Library Managers in the Flagstaff Region work hard to develop partnerships with other groups, and to provide space for programming that brings new people into library spaces, which can often lead to increased membership and usage.
PRLS published 2022 Return on Investment reports for each of its member municipalities. For Flagstaff County, PRLS calculated a $5.69 return for every dollar invested, and total financial benefits of PRLS membership of $181,679.19. Included in those benefits is $74,847 in technology savings to Flagstaff County libraries through group purchasing power alone.
Libraries truly are critical infrastructure, especially in rural communities, whose residents rely upon them to provide services and programming year-round.