Nova Scotia public libraries are expanding fundraising efforts as flat provincial support and rising costs pressure budgets and threaten services.
Public libraries in Nova Scotia are relying more heavily on fundraising to balance their budgets, with some regional systems now raising 10 per cent or more of their operating costs as provincial support fails to keep pace with expenses.
Most public libraries in the province are required to raise three per cent of their operating budgets, but several are far exceeding that mark as costs rise for labour, books and energy. The shift is sharpening concerns that local library systems may face deeper cuts or branch closures if the funding picture does not change.
South Shore Public Libraries, which raises 11 per cent of its operating budget through fundraising and grants, recently announced a fundraising event with Rachel Reid, author of the bestselling hockey romance series Game Changers , whose work helped inspire the TV hit Heated Rivalry . The event is expected to bring in a few thousand dollars for the library system.
“We are smashing that target out of the water,” CEO Ashley Nunn-Smith said of the three per cent fundraising requirement. She said the system has long raised money through events, an annual literary festival, author readings and a Christmas bookplate campaign, but current financial pressure means those efforts are being intensified.
“Fundraising alone cannot sustain public libraries in this province,” Nunn-Smith said. “But yes, we will need to increase our fundraising efforts.”
The pressure comes as the provincial funding formula, which covers 70 per cent of library finances for systems outside the Halifax Regional Municipality, has increased only once in the past 16 years, in 2019. The province has provided bridge funding since then, but library officials say it has not closed the gap between revenue and expenses.
The financial strain has already reached a visible point in the Annapolis Valley Regional Library, where five branch closures were recently announced. Library leaders elsewhere say that decision should be seen as a warning, not an isolated case.
At the Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library, chief librarian Eric Stackhouse said he is aiming to raise 10 per cent of the system’s operating budget this year. The library is setting up donation stations at its seven branches, using a charitable giving platform and seeking corporate investments in a library fund that will partly support operating expenses. It will also continue raffles, events and grant applications.
Both Pictou-Antigonish and South Shore libraries are also turning to partnerships. Pictou-Antigonish has worked with the Aberdeen Health Foundation on programming, including efforts to reduce social isolation among seniors and marginalized groups. South Shore opened a new branch in Chester, where the Village of Chester Commission is covering all staff costs, and plans another programming-only branch in Cookville this fall with staff costs covered by the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg.
Library systems have already made service reductions. South Shore has cut its mobile library schedule from five days to four, reduced collections spending and trimmed hours. Pictou-Antigonish has cut its book budget and some Sunday hours and laid off the equivalent of 1.5 full-time staff.
Nunn-Smith said South Shore is not yet at the point of closing larger branches, but could be within one to three years if funding does not improve. Stackhouse described the Annapolis Valley closures as “a wake-up call,” saying other systems are moving toward the same pressure point.
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