Libraries underfunded by Province: RDBN board

Published 8:30 am Sunday, October 26, 2025

Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako (RDBN) directors are making a renewed push for provincial library funding, citing a financial crisis caused by more than a decade of stagnant provincial support.

“It’s been 15 years since there’s been an increase,” said RDBN Director McGuire, mayor of Granisle, responding to a letter from the Ministry of Housing at the board’s Oct. 23 meeting.

The letter, signed by Christine Boyle, minister of housing, is a response to a letter the RDBN board sent in July calling for more funding.

“I recognize the ongoing challenges related to long-standing operational funding pressures at both the local and provincial levels,” the letter from the minister reads. “As outlined in government’s current three-year fiscal plan, provincial operating funding for public libraries remains at $14 million for the upcoming year.”

RDBN Director Gladys Atrill, mayor of Smithers, agreed that library funding “hasn’t increased at all in about 10 years,” forcing municipalities to cover the shortfall.

RDBN Director Judy Greenaway, Fort St. John rural, was blunt in her assessment.

“The libraries are really strapped, really struggling,” she said. “There was a resolution that came through at [the Union of BC Municipalities conference]… and it passes, but it doesn’t go anywhere.”

McGuire proposed a new advocacy strategy, suggesting each of RDBN’s directors gather data from their local libraries to quantify their impact.

“I wondered if we could maybe get everybody… to come up with how many visits did your librarian have for the year,” she said. “We can actually put those numbers in a letter to the minister,” McGuire said.

Director Greenway immediately provided an example for Fort St. James: “On Tuesday, we had 200 people walk through the library,” she said. “200 people in Fort St. James [is substantial], it’s not very big.”