The Palliser Regional Library held its annual meeting recently in Moose Jaw, and actions in other provinces are bringing a concern to regional libraries.

Jim Achtymichuk, chair of the library board, said it was a topic of conversation at the meeting.

“It may not have been a highlight of our meeting, but the Ontario government has announced drastic cuts to their library system,” said Achtymichuk. “We need to be cognizant of that and promote our own library use from within and as high as local government, to prevent the same thing that happened in 2017 in Saskatchewan from happening again in Saskatchewan.”

In 2017, the provincial government cut library funding and then restored it under intense public pressure. Achtymchuk said it is a neverending battle to make governments understand the importance of libraries.

“We’re just looking at what we can do with what we have,” he said. “Our budget is spread pretty thin right now, and we’re just trying to maintain services. More than 50 per cent of our membership is from outside Moose Jaw. So we need to be aware of that and not let them fall by the wayside.”

He said they need to be cognizant about preventing what happened in 2017 from happening again.