Funding cuts less than expected

On August 20th, 2009, the provincial government announced that it would continue to support BC public libraries with $13.7 million in funding, which is ~78% of previous funding levels. Nobody is ever happy with a 22% funding cut, but even two weeks ago, the libraries of British Columbia worried about a total loss of provincial funding. The details still have to be worked out, but on the whole this is good news.

The staff members of the Tumbler Ridge Public Library would like to thank everyone who sent letters, mailed postcards, and signed the online petition. You let the provincial government know how important public libraries are, and they listened.

On that note, we would also like to thank Blair Lekstrom (our MLA), Margaret MacDiarmid (Minister of Education) and Gordon Campbell (Premier) for listening to everyone's concerns.