ATHABASCA – This year has been action-packed for the Alice B. Donahue Library and Archives; long-time librarian Cynthia Graefe retired, the library hosted programming for kids all summer long, and a beloved community event was brought back.
During the Dec. 5 Town of Athabasca council meeting Nadine Byers, board chair for the library and archives, and Ariel Johnson, head librarian, brought councillors up to date on what was hip and happening inside the four walls.
“It’s been a year of celebrations, we’ve accomplished a lot,” said Byers. “We had a big volunteer appreciation event. We had taken a step back during COVID and it was nice to bring everyone back together.” Byers also highlighted a new fundraising and volunteer group, the Friends of the Library, which got started in June.
A big project this year was the creation of a plan of service, which outlines what the board wants to accomplish and how they plan on doing it. While it took until the last minute to get completed, Byers said they’re proud of the project.
The five-year plan will see the library focus on creating a safe and welcoming space for everyone, getting more involved with community groups and organizations, and celebrating cultural diversity, which will include programming that promotes different cultures.
This year, as part of its One Book One Community program, the library brought back Taste of Athabasca, an event where people could sign up to make foods from their own cultures to share with their neighbours.
“It was a little idea that really grew,” said Byers. The library isn’t sure if it will be the organization running the event next year — there was a lot of interest after the event, but the library had linked it to a book and was unsure if it would fit the same way next year.
“Some of the comments we got were things like, ‘I’ve never tried ethnic food before and I really enjoyed it,’ and ‘I didn’t know we had so many different cultures in Athabasca,’” continued Byers. “Not only was it successful number wise, it felt like a successful event as far as meeting the objective of celebrating cultural diversity.”
Summer programming was another point Byers touched on — the library ran free programming for kids during summer break, something much appreciated by parents and caretakers.
“We’ve really seen a dramatic increase in everything we do, there’s been an increase in the number of books going out, e-books, the number of visitors we’ve had and adult members,” said Byers.
“What other organization in town has this many numbers of all these different ages and stages that are served in person or virtually, at minimal or no cost?”
Councillors thanked the two women for their presentation, noting that the numbers they had seen show that the library was trending upwards.
“I do congratulate you on the increase as far as the membership numbers go. It’s considerable from 2022,” said Coun. Dave Pacholok. “COVID had something to do with that I guess, but the fact you’re attracting more people shows you're obviously working in the right direction.”
The ask
Byers and Johnson also shared the budget request for 2024, which would see the town’s contribution increase from $88,751 in 2023 to $91,509 in 2024. While the final numbers for 2023 aren’t in yet, an estimate for November and December would put the library at its highest revenue numbers since at least 2019 — the organization is expecting to bring in $212,972.11 by year’s end, compared to $189,831.93 in 2022. Despite the increase, the library is expected to run a deficit for the second year in a row. If everything follows projections, they’ll be almost $5,300 in the red, although that includes $17,807.75 being put into savings for future use.
Much of the increase comes in salary — the line item increased from $121,076 in 2022 to $132,000 this year — which Coun. Edie Yuill, the town’s representative on the library board for most of 2023, said had been a sticking point in prior conversations.
“In the amount that we gave them, we held them to three per cent. They were upset with that, and I said at the meeting that they can give their staff three and a half out of their budget, but they have to find it in their budget,” said Yuill.
Councillors voted 6-1 to defer the request to budget deliberations — the town will meet Dec. 12 at 5:30 p.m. for its next budget meeting — with Coun Sara Graling the lone voice of dissent.
“I think Nadine did a really great job, and I am a bit confused when we look at the local appropriation,” said Graling. “I am a bit disappointed with council’s decision to refer it to budget deliberations, it’s under $100,000 and we’ve seen the impact that it has on the community.”
For Coun. Jon LeMessurier, the decision to defer was about making sure the town put its limited funds to use in the best way possible.
“We want to be able to discuss this as a council, we’re not going to approve everything; it’s not fiscally responsible,” said LeMessurier. “We can’t say yes to everything.”
