Funding change leaves Hay River library’s future uncertain

Hay River’s senior administrator, Glenn Smith, says the town is reviewing its next steps after being notified of a change to territorial support for the community’s NWT Centennial Library.

Smith said the GNWT has historically funded and employed the head librarian, while the town provides funding for other staffing costs and supplies.

He told Cabin Radio the town recently received verbal notice from the NWT’s Department of Education, Culture and Employment that it will no longer directly fund the head librarian position.

At the same meeting, he said, the local library committee that oversees the facility indicated it may dissolve – and suggested the town take over.

Smith said council was briefed on the situation earlier this week but discussions remain at an early stage. The town has not yet agreed to take over operations and is awaiting formal notice from both the GNWT and library committee before determining next steps.

“The announcement from the GNWT is fairly significant in the impact to that librarian position on the administrative side,” he told Cabin Radio.

“It does create challenges for the other two organizations. We now need to chart out what those options might look like for moving forward.”

According to Smith, the territorial government told the town the move is intended to align Hay River with funding arrangements for other communities across the NWT. (The GNWT says this is the only librarian position in the territory it currently directly funds in this fashion.)

Smith said the GNWT has indicated it would still provide some funding through a contribution agreement and a transition amount to offset some costs related to the head librarian’s position that the territory previously covered.

“It’s been an ideal relationship for many decades,” he said of the existing funding arrangement.

“It might look a little different, but we’re still trying to figure out and negotiate and discuss what the arrangements might look like.”

April 30 is key day

A spokesperson for ECE said the territorial government is working with the Town of Hay River and Hay River Library Committee to determine the best long-term plan for delivering library services.

In an email on Thursday, the spokesperson said public libraries in the territory are normally run by local communities and supported through contribution agreements with the GNWT.

The spokesperson confirmed the Hay River Centennial Library is the only public library in the territory overseen by a library board and the only one where the librarian is a GNWT employee.

Similar positions once existed in Fort Smith and Fort Simpson, but were later transferred to the communities when contribution agreements were introduced.

“We are currently in discussion with the Town of Hay River and the Hay River Library Committee to determine the best long-term structure for delivering public library services in the community,” the email stated.

“Considerations related to the governance model, staffing and recruitment, including the future of the librarian position, are part of these ongoing discussions.

“The GNWT has been reviewing how to bring Hay River into alignment with the model used in all other NWT public libraries. While preliminary discussion about the library’s future structure is taking place, the GNWT remains committed to ensuring library services continue in Hay River without disruption.”

Marie Kopp-van Egteren, who has worked at the library for just over eight years, said staff were informed in a meeting on Monday that the Hay River Library Committee plans to stop running the library as of April 30.

When the head librarian announced her retirement, Kopp-van Egteren said, the position was expected to come under the library committee’s remit.

However, according to Kopp-van Egteren, the committee told staff it could not take on the responsibility of managing that position as a volunteer organization.

“They approached the town many years ago – several times, I understand – to take over the library and have never been successful. So at this point they said, ‘Well, then our only option is to close,'” she added.

Christine Gyapay has long been the head librarian at the NWT Centennial Library.

Kopp-van Egteren said if no organization takes over operations by April 30, the building and its contents will remain in place while a future operator is determined. She said staff were given some indication earlier this year that changes could be coming.

In a letter from the library committee, employees were told the head librarian’s retirement and changes to how the position was funded would lead to adjustments in how the library operates.

“I’m a bit of a pessimist, so I took that to mean that we would most likely be closing – but obviously that was not finalized until we received a letter last Friday and then we had this meeting on Monday,” Kopp-van Egteren said.

“I think generally, staff and I hope the public will be incredibly saddened by this. It’s kind-of a drastic step and it’s a blow to the community because it’s a fixture in any community, right?

“I think people will find that things they sort-of took for granted will no longer be available.”

Some residents of Hay River seemed similarly pessimistic that a solution could be found.

One resident contacting Cabin Radio, who requested anonymity as they fear retribution from their employer, said they use the library regularly with their daughter and several community groups rely on the space, including a community garden for meetings and sales, and a cancer support group that meets monthly.

“It’s affecting quite a few residents from young to old,” the resident said.

“They have seniors’ programming, they have after-school programming. If we were to lose that, that would be devastating for the community.

“We’ve got small community libraries all over the Northwest Territories. I just don’t understand how the second-largest community in the territory would lose theirs. There’s got to be some sort of funding option, either through the government or through the town or whatnot, to keep it.”