Council to advocate for library funding

At its recent monthly meeting, Lachlan Shire Council agreed to support the NSW Public Libraries Association’s campaign for sustainable library funding.

This comes after the NSW Public Libraries Association requested the support of all NSW councils in its advocacy to the State Government to develop a sustainable funding model for NSW libraries.

A recent funding drive, the NSW Public Libraries Association’s 2018-19 Renew Our Libraries campaign, delivered an increase of $60m in state funding for NSW public libraries over the periods 2019-20 to 2022-23.

This was reportedly the largest single increase in state funding since the NSW Library Act was introduced in 1939. The outcome was achieved with state-wide support of councils, libraries and community. A reported 80 per cent of NSW councils formally endorsed the initial Renew Our Libraries through council resolutions.

Renew Our Libraries Phase Two was launched late last year and aims to index the total increased state funding contribution to the Consumer Price Index in perpetuity. Without indexation the actual value of state funding for NSW libraries will decline over time, leaving councils to either meet the shortfall or reduce services.

The second phase also seeks to protect the new funding commitment by including all elements of the new state funding model in legislation through the Library Act and/or the Library Regulation.

Currently, only the per-capita component of the funding model (increasing from $1.85 per capita to $2.85 per capita over the period 2019-20 to 2022-23) is included in library legislation, leaving 46 per cent of the total funding for NSW libraries at risk.

Lachlan Shire Council has received over $47,000 for the 2019/2020 financial year to date and was the recipient of $34,000 in the 2018/2019 financial year.

At its February meeting, Council committed to approaching the local State Member about the need for a sustainable state funding model for the ongoing provision of public library services. It also resolved to write to the Minister for the Arts and the Shadow Minister for the Arts, calling for bi-partisan support for Consumer Price Index indexation of state funding for NSW public libraries, as well as legislation of all elements of the 2019/20 to 2022/23 NSW state funding model.