Seven-year-old Alice Arsenault, from Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley, says she’s been sad and worried since learning last week five libraries in the area will soon close.
The Kentville branch is where Arsenault takes part in chess club, and the Hantsport library is one of her favourite places to read, she said. Both are among those scheduled to shut July 20.
Regional libraries are “where I like to do all the things. And they’re trying to shut down the Hantsport library, which is extremely special to me,” Alice said in an interview with her mother Krista Arsenault in Middleton, N.S., on Friday.
The 11-branch Annapolis Valley Regional Library system announced that five of their branches will close next month due to a lack of funding. The non-profit organization says the decision was made after the provincial government confirmed there will be no increase in provincial library funding in the 2026-27 fiscal year.
The library organization said all eight municipalities it serves had committed additional money, but those contributions won’t be enough to cover the lack of funding increases from the province.
Krista Arsenault said as a rural parent who homeschools her children, libraries are a vital part of her family’s life.
“Using our libraries, having them close by, means we’re making connections in our local community… It’s so important for developing meaningful long-term relationships,” and for her children’s learning, Arsenault said.
Alice Arsenault, her mother, and her three-year-old sister Evie attended a rally in support of the libraries Friday morning in Middleton, N.S., outside the local member of legislature’s office.
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When interviewed Friday afternoon, the sisters were still holding the sign they made for the demonstration.
Their sign includes drawings of books, crying faces and a picture of a library that reads: “I do not want to go!”
Alice said they decided to make the sign for “thousands and thousands and a bunch of different reasons, because there’s a billion things special about libraries.”
Sue Littleton, a Lawrencetown, N.S., business owner who works as a substitute librarian in the area, agrees.
“I have had so many opportunities to see firsthand just how essential libraries are to communities. They are so much more than just a place to get books,” she said in an interview Friday.
Littleton said in the rural community of Lawrencetown, the library is where people go to access a computer, use reliable internet, keep warm in the winter or cool off in the summer. It’s also a place where people can connect with their neighbours in an area that doesn’t have an active community centre or hub like many bigger towns do, Littleton said.
“We live in an impoverished and rural community where people don’t necessarily have the means to have computers and technology at home,” she said, adding that the Middleton location also has a free food pantry for people who need something to eat.
“A lot of what’s special (about libraries) is the books and the story-times and activities… but it’s also a place where people can spend some time without having to spend any money,” Littleton added.
On Thursday, the minister responsible for communities, culture, tourism and heritage, told reporters he intends to meet with the library board to understand the decision to close the five branches. A department spokesperson said Friday a meeting will be held this week.
“How did we get here? … it’s a devastating decision to close libraries, and we want to make sure we understand how we got to that point,” Dave Ritcey said after a cabinet meeting Thursday.
The minister said the province spends $16.5 million to cover 70 per cent of provincial libraries’ operating costs.
The library organization, based in Berwick, N.S., said in its June 1 statement it is facing a structural deficit and maintaining all its branches is “not financially sustainable under the current funding model” as core funding from the province has been stagnant since 2020. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Nova Scotia’s Council of Regional Libraries, which represents the province’s nine library systems, wrote to Ritcey on June 3 saying their libraries are facing an estimated funding gap of almost $12.8 million.
Ritcey would not say if his department is willing to increase funding in order to keep branches open. Libraries in the following communities are set to close: Hantsport, Kentville, Lawrencetown, Middleton and Port Williams.
David Bowlby, the member of provincial legislature for Annapolis, said in an interview Friday he doesn’t want to see any branches close.
“We have passionate people, they were here today. They care about libraries, I care about libraries,” he said while folding up a protest sign that had been taped to his constituency office.
Dozens of colourful Bristol board signs and sticky notes with messages in support of libraries covered the exterior of his office Friday morning.
“I think that books are absolutely wonderful and (so are) the things that the library does for all, outside of books,” Bowlby said, adding that he hopes there’s a resolution before the July 20 closure date.
