Regional Library Appointment and Funding
Res #: 10-17M
Number: 10
Year: 2017
Midterm: Yes
Expired: No
Responses Received: No
Departments: Saskatchewan Ministry of Education
WHEREAS in the 2017-18 provincial budget funding to regional libraries was to be cut by 58%, $3.5 million dollars;
WHEREAS the municipal grant amount had already been set by the regional library boards as required by The Public Libraries Act, 1996;
WHEREAS the budget cut required a proposed increase from $11.01 to $16.78 per capita for the municipalities within the South East Regional Library System alone, without taking into consideration financial constraints of municipalities that were also impacted with revenue reductions;
WHEREAS each municipality is to appoint the member(s) to the regional library board as per The Public Libraries Act, 1996, and some of these appointments are members at large, not elected officials, that are responsible for allocating public funds without any knowledge of the municipality’s budget;
WHEREAS Section 43 of The Public Libraries Act, 1996 gives each regional library board the ability to impose the required grant amounts per municipality regardless of the potential budget shortfalls the municipality may be experiencing,
BE IT RESOLVED that SARM lobby the provincial government to review The Public Libraries Act, 1996 in regard to appointments to the regional library boards and the authority granted in the Act to arbitrarily impose the levy on each municipality;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that SARM lobby the provincial government to educate all municipalities in the powers they entrust to their appointed regional library trustee.
