MD of Bonnyville residents proved there’s still a demand for the local libraries, and the services they offer to the area.
Representatives from the Northern Lights Library System (NLLS) made a presentation to MD council on Wednesday, April 3, outlining how the municipality’s contribution of over $118,000 is split between the Bonnyville and Cold Lake libraries.
The funding is set at $10.14 per capita based on a population of 11,661 that was recorded in 2016.
“Since you don’t have a library board for your county you’re paying both sides,” explained Larry Tiedemann, board chair for NLLS. “You’re paying for the municipal side, and you’re paying for the library board side.”
Libraries in rural areas receive a service grant, which is based on population, and NLLS distributes the funds to the local branches on behalf of the MD. Of the $73,443 grant for the area, Bonnyville receives 68 per cent and Cold Lake gets 32 per cent.
While Cold Lake has two locations, Julie Walker, executive director for NLLS, noted more MD residents use the Bonnyville branch.
Through a partnership between three other library systems, over 3.6-million items are accessible to residents through a system called TRAC Services. The online catalogue allows users to access thousands of books through the web, on programs such as Overdrive where they can borrow digital content.
In 2018, users from the MD checked out over 11,700 Overdrive items, such as audio books.
“If you set an average cost to those books at $45 each, that comes to (over) $500,000 that you didn’t have to spend for having your patrons have access to those materials,” detailed Tiedemann.
Reeve Greg Sawchuk said, “I was surprised at the number of Overdrive items. I didn’t realize that they were that popular.”
For the resource sharing services, the MD shares the cost of $5,300 with the other municipalities, which allows new items and other resources to be delivered to local facilities from other locations in the NLLS system.
“It doesn’t matter what size you are, you can have access to 3.6-million books... This, to me, is what makes all of our libraries just as relevant as the libraries in Edmonton and Calgary,” Tiedemann said.
NLLS processes new books at their headquarters in St. Paul and makes them ready to be shelved as soon as local libraries receive them. The MD pays just over $43,000 for their share of the processing fee, as well as $25,000 goes towards purchasing new books.
Just under $28,000 from the MD allows the libraries access to public services offered through NLLS, including 3D printers, virtual reality machines, training sessions, and workshops designed for their needs.
“One of the ways the libraries have used it is if you think you have a need for a product, but it’s expensive, maybe try it out first to see if what you think is the need is actually the need. Lots of places have done that with the 3D printers, and the virtual reality machines,” Tiedemann said.
The cost of IT services is also shared between the municipalities and offers helpdesk support, installations, upgrades, and unlimited site visits for troubleshooting and maintenance.
The administrative costs to maintain the facility, insurance, the purchasing of office supplies, and utilities comes in at just over $31,000 for the MD.
NLLS estimates the total cost of the services offered is over $278,000 for both Cold Lake and Bonnyville libraries.
In 2018, MD residents checked out over 54,000 books.
“I think that’s what makes this all relevant, that’s showing the demand from your patrons for these materials,” expressed Tiedemann.
