Library budget increase; longer hours

Miriam Ostermann
Times Associate Editor

 

Greater turnouts, unparallThe latest figures on the Strathmore Municipal Library’s budget were met with a bittersweet retort, after an increase by the municipality allows the institution to address current limitations, yet falls short on meeting full monetary expectations.
As the library relies on the provincial government and the Town of Strathmore as the only sources of guaranteed funding, the municipality was asked to consider an increase of $2 per capita to last year’s rate of $16.69.
While the town was unable in meeting the request and only allotted an additional $1.48 per capita, the financial contributions will result in slight increases to employees’ wages – inching closer to achieving the average rate across Marigold libraries – strengthen the program budget, and extend hours of operation.
“We were fairly low on the per rate capita so we were looking to get that increased,” said Councillor Brad Walls who sits on the library board.
“The library is very successful they continuously increase their membership annually. Budget times are tight and funds are tight. We did what we could, and worked on a bunch of scenarios. The library it’s definitely on council’s radar that the library is very important. We’re looking at some other options hopefully to help them and give them some good stable funding as well as trying to keep fiscally responsible.”
Walls also credited Councillor Denise Peterson, former board member as representative of the town, stating that without her time and effort, the increase would not have been possible.
Although the funding did reflect Strathmore’s current population of 13,327, the 2016 rate of $18.17 per capita continues to remain lower than the $23 rate other libraries see on average.
“We did get an increase from the town, but it wasn’t all that we had hoped to get,” said Rachel Dick Hughes, director of library services at the Strathmore Municipal Library.
“We’re excited about it and we’re glad that they’re continuing to invest more in the library, because, especially as the economy hurts, people need access to free Internet, free computers, free online courses, free books and movies, and programs for kids. We’re glad that they see that and are investing and we’re just hoping to continue to grow more with more investment in the future.”
The Strathmore Municipal Library was forced to tighten its purse strings and cut resources last year, to provide a much-needed boost to their employees’ wages. While the rise to $242,218 from last year’s $222,428 won’t be sufficient to extend the library hours from Mondays to Fridays, the library will keep its doors open from Tuesdays to Thursdays until 8 p.m. starting on March. 1.
With such modifications, the library aims to offer greater accessibility to those families who have members commuting to and from work and are therefore less able to take advantage of the library’s services.
In addition, more money was also put into the program budget, allowing for a wider variety of programming. As a result, the library was able to hire popular magician Christopher Cool during the teachers’ convention week.
“We have very talented staff and they can do so many great things, but we do have limitations… so we’re excited to be able to outsource a little bit and bring a wider variety of programming to Strathmore with that kind of money,” said Dick Hughes. “Our council generously supports the library and supports the work that we do in the community and I think that’s becoming more evident in how they fund us.”
The Strathmore Municipal Library also received $68,554 from the provincial government in 2015. While the staff remains optimistic, information regarding 2016 funding won’t be available until the provincial budget is passed in the coming months.