Calgary Public Library budget cut could mean hours get trimmed, too

Council voted to trim the Calgary Public Library's budget on Wednesday, which could see operating hours at some branches cut down, too.

City council is in the midst of deliberating on its proposed four-year budget and decided to trim next year's library budget by $1 million, then cut an additional $1.8 million for the next three years.

Coun. Druh Farrell, who sits on the library board, was disappointed in the decision.

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"I would love to see the libraries, especially the busy ones, open later so that more and more people could use them. Certainly, the libraries are heavily used by young adults and kids. It provides a great place for them to get out and be constructive and so we want to see more of that, not less," she said.

The library has 715,000 members and sees more than seven million visits each year, the city said.

It received $54 million in the 2018 budget.

Coun. Evan Woolley criticized the move during council's discussion, saying it doesn't make sense that the city just opened a new, $245-million Central Library but could now not have sufficient funds for staff to keep it running, a message Farrell echoed.

"The new Central Library is busier than we anticipated so we're having to staff up and you certainly don't want to reduce your maintenance budget for buildings, you just start to see deterioration. So, they'll have to evaluate all of that, but I suspect it will be a reduction in hours," she said.

Despite the cuts, two new library branches are set to open during this budget — one in Seton in 2019 and one in Symons Valley in 2021.

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