HALIFAX – The leader of Nova Scotia's Progressive Conservative Party is urging the province to focus cost cutting strategies away from resources that are fundamental to education and life-long learning in this province - specifically, Nova Scotia's public libraries.
 
Recently, Nova Scotia's chief librarians learned the Department of Education may reduce the libraries' provincial operating budget by $300,000 this year.
 
Casey, the PC's education critic and MLA for Colchester North said public libraries offer Nova Scotians an opportunity to access books and online resources that increase literacy and allow them to become more informed.
 
"The Minister of Labour and Workforce Development has stated that we may soon see a significant skilled labour shortage in this province, so it is incumbent upon the government to ensure Nova Scotians are prepared," Casey said. "To say that cutting funding for one of our most important educational resources is a step in the wrong direction would be an understatement."
 
Each year, libraries provide over 11,000 public programs that support life-long learning and family literacy.
 
Cutting $300,000 from the overall provincial budget is going to result in tough choices between purchasing books, paying for Internet service, and maintaining staff, Casey said.
 
"It is not reasonable to expect our libraries will be able to maintain the same level of service when significantly fewer dollars are being allocated for operations," she said.
 
The NDP government has already slashed the library budget by eliminating reimbursement for travel costs incurred by chief librarians when they attend provincial meetings.
 
"I think we should look at other ways of saving money, rather than cut in to our library budget and jeopardize the quality of service libraries provide," Casey said.
 
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For more information, please contact:
Janna MacGregor
Public Relations Officer
NS Progressive Conservative Caucus
Tel: 902.424.5238
Cell: 902.499.9948
Fax: 902.424.7484
macgrejl@gov.ns.ca