By Galen Simmons, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
After the St. Marys library board reached a five-year agreement last month with Perth South that resulted in the reinstatement of library services for Perth South residents, the board approved a revised draft 2025 library budget to reflect additional revenue from St. Marys’ neighbouring township.
According to a report presented to the library board at its Jan. 9 meeting, Perth South has agreed to pay St. Marys $50,000 annually until 2030 for the provision of library services for township residents. In a press release following the signing of that agreement, the library board said those services include access to book lending, digital resources, programs, summer-reading initiatives and community events.
“It brings our budget in, as we’ve been requested to do, at (a) three per-cent (increase over 2024),” St. Marys Public Library CEO Sarah Andrews said. “ … This budget incorporates the $50,000 in revenue we will be receiving from Perth South this year and for the next five years.”
“I think it’s probably important, in particular for the councillors’ awareness, that this budget is still a service reduction from not just 2024 but 2023 as well because we’re not reinstating Saturday afternoon (operating hours),” added library board chair Dr. Cole Atlin. “ … Saturday afternoon is the least-used time (at the library). … We do get to reinstate Thursday nights, which is a huge benefit.”
Early last year after Perth South CAO Fred Tranquilli informed the St. Marys library board the township would not be paying the more than $74,000 requested by the board for the provision of library services for Perth South residents from the St. Marys library in 2024, the library board voted to reduce hours of operation, eliminating three hours from 5-8 p.m. on Thursdays and three hours from 1-4 p.m. on Saturdays to help make up the funding shortfall.
Now that an agreement for roughly $24,000 less funding than what was requested last year has been reached between the two parties, this year’s draft library budget includes an additional $11,400 in funding for the St. Marys library to once again operate in the evenings on Thursdays. Operating hours on Saturdays, however, will remain as they were last year, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., should council approve the library’s draft budget as is.
Another major change to the draft budget stemming from the new agreement with Perth South is a more than $11,100 increase in funding for capital-book purchases. According to the draft 2025 budget, the library is now posed to spend a total of nearly $64,700 on new books for children, teens and adults as opposed to the nearly $53,600 proposed before the agreement with Perth South was reached. This year’s capital-book-purchase funding represents a three per-cent increase over what was originally budgeted for in 2024 – nearly $62,800 – however the library only spent $51,000 of that amount last year to help address the funding shortfall from Perth South.
Other reductions to the 2025 draft budget made before the agreement with Perth South was reached have also been returned to their original budgeted amounts in 2024. That has resulted in an additional $2,160 for office supplies, furniture and equipment, an additional $2,040 to reinstate a program that allows users to borrow mobile WiFi hotspot devices known as MiFi, and an additional $3,500 that will allow the library to replace all six of its public computers this year.
The draft library budget now also includes an additional $1,228 so the library can continue to purchase non-traditional equipment that provides patrons with experiences and access to services like museum passes, snowshoes and memory kits; an additional $1,000 to support the library’s participation in the interlibrary loan service across the region; and an extra $500 for travel and mileage to allow library staff to participate in in-person committee meetings including Perth County Reads, the Perth County Information Network (PCIN) management-team and board meetings, and Ontario Library Service (OLS) and South Western Ontario Library Administrators (SWOLA) meetings.
The revised draft 2025 budget includes a total tax levy of just over $577,200, nearly 2.9 per cent higher than what was originally budgeted for in 2024.
After the library approved the amended 2025 draft budget at its Jan. 9 meeting, the draft budget was to be presented to St. Marys council for consideration at its Jan. 14 meeting, which occurred after this newspaper went to press.
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