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Five rural Nova Scotia libraries slated for permanent closure next week have been granted a reprieve and will now have enough funding to remain open until Sept. 30.
A special meeting of the Annapolis Valley Regional Library (AVRL) board was held Monday night.
According to a social media post, the board approved using half of AVRL’s remaining reserve funds to extend service at the Lawrencetown, Middleton, Kentville, Port Williams and Hantsport branches.
AVRL had $160,000 in its reserve funds.
“We will work as quickly as possible to organize staffing and sort out other logistical issues,” AVRL wrote in a Facebook post.
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“Please note that there may be service disruptions as we work through this process. Please check our website for open hours and service updates.”
The board initially announced on June 1 it would close the branches effective July 20 due to a lack of sustainable funding.
The move sparked concern and protests from community members who use those spaces.
The library board also voted Monday night to resend its request to all municipal funding partners for the full amount previously requested in order to extend service past Sept. 30.
Kentville Mayor Andrew Zebian told Global News on Monday afternoon he’s hoping for collaboration with all local governments because he knows how vital the library service is.
“Because the library is used by the entire region and just because you live in another area doesn’t mean you don’t use the Kentville branch or another branch,” he said.
“So we all have to kind of look at this collectively and if the province isn’t going to commit any more money, then it is going to fall back on us.”
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