Burnaby Public Library may have to cut its hours and programs if the provincial government doesn’t come through with its annual grant, says the chair of the library board.

“Typically we get our funding from the province every February,” said Iqbal Dhanani. “To date, we have not received any of that funding.”

Burnaby’s library system receives around $430,000 annually as an operating grant from the Ministry of Education. That represents about five per cent of the library’s budget and pays for programs such as the popular summer reading club.

The funding also pays for online databases which are made available to library users so they can read magazines, newspapers and other publications over the Internet. The grants not only pay for the databases, they make it possible for all participating B.C. libraries to secure bulk buying discounts.

The provincial grant also pays for Askaway, an online service that helps students and others find information, and Interlink, which allows people to borrow between different municipal library systems.

Not only has Burnaby not received its money, library officials are hearing from sources in the education ministry that the grants—$17 million province wide, about two per cent of the ministry’s budget—could be cut altogether, Dhanani said.

With Burnaby library more than halfway through the year, a lot of money has already been spent or committed. As a result, it will have to cut 10 per cent of its remaining budget to make up the shortfall if Victoria doesn’t come through.

That could mean reducing the hours its four branches are open, Dhanani said.

With Burnaby city hall already funding about 95 per cent of the library’s budget, the library board isn’t looking to them to make up the shortfall. Dhanani said most of the potentially affected programs depend on participation from all the province’s libraries and Burnaby can’t expect all those municipalities to cover the difference as well.

Meantime, Burnaby library is joining the B.C. Library Trustees Association in an awareness campaign it hopes will generate enough public pressure to prevent any provincial cuts from happening. An online petition is at www.stopbclibrarycuts.ca/ and library visitors can fill out postcards at branches for staff to send to Victoria.

Education Minister Margaret MacDiarmid said in an e-mailed statement that the economic climate has caused the ministry to review all its grants leading up to the Sept. 1 provincial budget.

“Our priority is to ensure dollars are kept in the classroom where students will benefit most—we have committed to preserving education for our students and we are doing that,” said MacDiarmid.

The delay is not unprecedented, she said, noting that in 2008 libraries didn’t get grants until August.

“We value the crucial role that public libraries play in communities across the province. We also understand that libraries must make decisions about local funding and staff levels so we intend to inform them about funding as soon as possible.”

wchow@burnabynewsleader.com