Cr Bill McArthur, MAV President said councils were shocked earlier this month to discover that, without warning or explanation, the Government had cut its recurrent funding contribution for public library operating costs.

“It’s inconceivable why the State would withhold this information until after council budgets were set. And it’s absurd to blame the cut on the former Government when the Coalition delivered its first Budget in May.

“The MAV has urged councils not to sign the State’s funding agreement, as acceptance of the cut could mean a loss of at least $5.7 million in recurrent Government funding over the next four years.

“The State failed to consider the impact on communities or library services. A meeting of councils next week will discuss options to ensure public libraries receive adequate Government funding to survive.

“The MAV has also written to Minister Powell seeking an immediate reversal of its 2011-12 funding cut, plus an urgent review of the operational funding arrangements and indexation for Victoria’s public libraries.

“Libraries provide universal access to key services that are vital to education, workforce participation and social connections. They’re especially important to children’s learning and literacy, and are the most commonly used community facility in Victoria, with 2.6 million members making over 28 million visits a year.

“A more sustainable funding model is urgently needed. Library popularity continues to grow as services expand to meet the community reliance on them as a gateway to online services and IT resources,” he said.

Over the past four years, public library computers with internet access increased by over 30 per cent, with the number of bookings increasing by over 60 per cent. In the past three years, libraries also rapidly expanded their wireless internet access by over 700 per cent. Loans also grew by eight per cent to over 52 million items a year.

In 2009-10 councils contributed $126.4 million or 74.7 per cent of recurrent library operating costs, while the State’s recurrent funding was $32.5 million or 19.2 per cent - a decline from 20.1 per cent three years ago.

Cr McArthur said that State grants for library operating costs had been declining for decades, which had multiplied the problem year after year and now threatened the viability of the service.

“Annual Government indexation has consistently failed to recognise the actual service delivery costs or growing role of modern libraries. This has caused a cumulative shortfall in recurrent State library funding of around $23 million since 2001.

“Local government remains deeply committed to providing a high quality public library service for communities, but the widening gap between running costs and grants has placed a huge financial burden on ratepayers.

“The Liberal Party summed this up accurately when their 2006 library policy pointed out that ‘councils and ratepayers cannot continue to sustain this inequitable funding’.

“While their 2006 commitment was to increase recurrent funding to $46 million a year, the absence of any Coalition policy at the 2010 election has seen a funding cut for libraries, which must be reversed,” he said. 

Contact MAV President, Cr Bill McArthur on 0437 984 793 or MAV Communications on 03 9667 5521.