In a submission to be considered at the March 9 SCRD committee of the whole meeting, Sechelt Public library board chair Pat Harvey and director Leianne Emery have requested the reopening of that facility's agreement with local government funders to raise grant levels.
The move follows the reconsideration of the Gibsons and District Public Library's 2023 grant at round two budget discussions on March 2.
At round two budget discussions, elected officials recommended funding $305,101, to fund Sechelt library services for rural areas A, B and D (Sechelt and shíshálh Nation provide separate funding for the library). That reflects the agreed totals in the library’s 2020-2025 funding agreement with the SCRD, the District of Sechelt and the shíshálh Nation.
The library's letter states higher grants are needed to cover operating costs, primarily staff compensation under a union contract that was put in place after the funding deal was set. It is asking its local funders to chip in an additional $54,153 in 2023 and for that change to become part of the base budget, which would increase grant levels further in 2024 and 2025.
“Sechelt Library’s budget as presented is a bare bones operational budget. There is no frivolity or excess,” the letter states. It closes with a call to the SCRD’s elected officials’ sense of equity regarding staff compensation: “As you will be honoring your staff’s salaries and future increases, so should you honor ours. …. We should not be viewed as a competitor to your own internal budget process but rather a fully supported community asset that benefits thousands.”
The letter details a range of services that would face cuts if local funding amounts remain at the amounts listed in the agreement. Those include potential Saturday library closures, freezing purchases of new resources, shutting down of events and partnerships, and elimination of document faxing, scanning and printing equipment services for patrons.
