A big thank you and AGM news

It's time for a two-for-one sale.  Two topics in one blog post!


The Big Thank You

To everyone who took the time to sign a letter to town council supporting the library,

Thank you.

Because of your efforts over the past three days, we were able to submit over one hundred letters to town council requesting that they do not proceed with the final cut to the library's budget.

The library staff and board have been overwhelmed by the support from the residents of Tumbler Ridge, and the knowledge of this support will help us carry on regardless of the final outcome.


Once the town's budget has been finalized, the library will be posting notices regarding any changes to library hours and programming.

Please keep watching for posters around town and on the library's website:  http://tumblerridge.bclibrary.ca


AGM News

It's taken a little longer than we had hoped, but we're ready to have our AGM.

Tumbler Ridge Public Library

Annual General Meeting

Wednesday, April 14th

7pm at the library

Agenda

• 2009 in review
• 2010 and the year ahead
• Trustee nominations

Of Books and Budget Cuts...

If you haven't already heard, the library's budget is going to be cut again.  Without going into too many details, our grant-in-aid has been cut twice now (first our budget for capital expenses was cut entirely and then our operating expenses were cut), and is slated to be cut again.  The total amount of the cuts to our operating expenses is around 17%.

If this final budget cut is made official, the library *will* have to make changes to its operating hours, staff hours, and programming to balance the budget.  There is a very real chance that the library will no longer be open on Sundays, Saturday mornings, or after 6pm Tuesday-Thursday.

Nothing is official yet.  However, if the final cut remains when budget numbers are set in stone, we will have to make some very hard decisions.

So what can you do about it?

Let town council know.  Be polite, but let them know that the library is an important part of Tumbler Ridge, and that its budget shouldn't be cut any further than it already has been.  If you're ambitious, feel free to write a letter to town council in the next few days.  Otherwise, we have pre-written letters available at the library for this purpose.  Just drop by, sign one of them, and the library will deliver all of the letters to town council.

Thank you,

Jacob Fehr
Interim head librarian