The Banff Public Library looks set to receive the full $433,500 in municipal funding it is seeking in order to hire a new head librarian and maintain other staffing levels so services won’t be further cut.
Head librarian Denise Drury has handed in her resignation, and plans to leave the position she has held for the past three-and-a-half years at the end of February, citing both personal and professional reasons.
Drury said she deeply regrets that in her time at the library falling funding levels have necessitated cuts in library hours, as well as a constant pressure to institute fees for services and to fundraise for operational expenses.
Given the incredible success of the library in terms of efficiency, numbers of people served and patron satisfaction, she said the pressure is demoralizing for all staff and has contributed substantially to her decision to leave.
“I understand that there are limits to what taxpayers can fund, but I see this situation as a matter of what the Town values and what priorities it sets. I don’t understand why fireworks at Halloween or an inflatable Santa take precedence over crucial public services such as the library,” she said.
“I find it really frustrating to be running a library that is so efficient and doing such a good job, and yet I feel we’re being nickeled and dimed. I don’t want to keep fighting for an adequate operational budget.”
The Banff Public Library is presenting a balanced budget for 2014, with up to $433,500 of projected revenues coming from the Town of Banff. Banff’s finance committee discussed the issue of library funding during a service level review meeting last Wednesday (Dec. 11).
On a 4-3 split vote, the committee recommended the library be given $433,500 – that’s up $13,700 from the $419,500 included in the Town of Banff’s draft 2014 operating budget – but that decision won’t be final until budget deliberations in January.
Mayor Karen Sorensen, who, along with Councillors Stavros Karlos and Brian Standish, voted against the $13,700 increase, said she believes the library is adequately funded at the lower amount of $419,500, which includes a one per cent inflationary increase.
“The fact that we also offer them a building, I believe, is substantial support for a very well loved service,” said Sorensen.
Coun. Grant Canning, who was council’s representative on the library board until the recent municipal election, voiced support for the higher amount to help recruit a new librarian, adding he fears there would be a further reduction in library services without the extra money.
He said the library board has also done what the previous council asked by increasing donations and fundraising efforts – to the tune of $6,000 in fundraising and $10,000 in donations in 2013.
“The current librarian, in essence, was being underpaid and they are going to need those additional funds to recruit a high-quality full-time librarian,” said Canning.
“If the funding wasn’t there and we hire at the proposed pay level, the library would have to make up that $13,000, which quite frankly, would have been another service level cut,” he added.
“In light of everything the board has done, trying to balance the books the best they can with what council provided, I wasn’t prepared to support another hit to the library of $13,700.”
The number of visitors to the library has grown each year, from 118,705 in 2010 to 130,067 in 2011 and 145,192 in 2012. To the end of November this year, there have been 133,490 visitors, with December numbers still to come.
Ross Glenfield, chairman of the library’s board of directors, said the numbers make it clear Banff Public Library is dealing with far more demands with far fewer resources than average libraries in Alberta.
“Banff Public Library is serving each person who comes in at a much smaller cost to the municipality than most other libraries in the province. In many areas, the staff is doing twice the average volume of work as other library staff in the province,” he said.
“As the recent resignation of the head librarian indicates, this situation takes a toll on staff.”
Drury, meanwhile, said she hopes the library will fight against any pressure to re-institute fees, in the form of library card membership, which was eliminated in 2000 and supported by the mayor and council of the day.
Most libraries in Alberta charge for memberships, which are referred to as an administration fee, but Drury said this practice certainly seems to be against the spirit of the Alberta Libraries Act and is not in keeping with public library values.
“That decision was progressive and contributed to the steady use of the library by a true cross-section of people who reside in and visit this area,” she said. “ I sincerely hope that this creative and successful decision is not rolled back.”
