A TRIBUTE TO LOIS HOLE

Letter to Gary Mar, Minister of Community Development

Honourable Gary G. Mar
Minister of Community Development
320 Legislature Building
10800-97 Avenue
Edmonton, AB
T5K 2B6


January 20, 2005

Dear Mr. Mar:

Our board would like to congratulate you on your recent appointment as Minister of Community Development. We are sure you will agree that public libraries are an important part of your portfolio.

This week, the Banff and Camrose Public Library boards wrote to Premier Klein recommending that the province of Alberta recognize Lois Hole for her outstanding contribution to this province by endowing a lasting legacy in her honour -- ongoing funding to support the annual provision of a free library card to every Albertan at his or her local public library.

We hope that you will support this proposal. Public libraries were near and dear to Her Honour’s heart and she expressed the wish that we in Alberta should have free access to public libraries, which “are very important in promoting literacy and life-long interest in learning.” Alberta and Quebec are the only two jurisdictions in North America where the principle of free access to one’s local public library is not universally honoured.

We imagine that Mr Klein will consult your department regarding the cost of ensuring free library membership to Albertans whose communities support a public library. We suggest that the fairest and most equitable way to compensate public libraries around the province for loss of membership fee revenue is through a special annual per capita grant.

The Banff Public Library did a survey1 of head librarians in Alberta in 2001 and one of the questions we asked was how much each library was currently charging as an annual membership fee (which some libraries call a “registration” fee, but they charge it annually.) Amounts varied from $0 (Banff and Lloydminster) to fees as high as $25 annually. At that time, our analysis showed that an annual per capita grant of $1.54 would compensate most library boards for the loss of income that would result if membership fees were eliminated.

A very good case could be made for a differential grant of $1.27 per capita to the two largest2 library boards, Edmonton and Calgary, which serve populations of 666,104 and 904,987, respectively. A grant of $1.27 per capita to the two library boards would fully compensate those libraries for their loss of membership revenue, while a somewhat higher per capita grant of $1.70 to all other public libraries would replace membership fee revenue for the great majority. Thus, the total cost of a membership fee compensation grant would be less than $4 million/year.

We hope that you will support the allocation of provincial funding for this very important step in Alberta’s history. There can be no more fitting tribute to the remarkable Lois Hole: the lasting legacy of open library doors.

Sincerely,

Marti Wilson, Chair
Banff Public Library Board

Cc: Bonnie Gray, Manager of Public Library Services
Libraries, Community and Voluntary Sector

1 (see http://www.banfflibrary.ab.ca for survey and statistical details)

2 (Latest published library branch population statistics:
EPL & CPL combined = 1,571,091; all others combined = 1,169,923)


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