So on Monday, I heard that some library colleagues from the Palliser Regional Library system who’d been laid off were going to be at the Sask Legislature. Since it was my day off, I decided to tag along. I was able to join them in the NDP’s Caucus Office for a while before the afternoon […]
The 2016 Saskatchewan Provincial election took place one year ago today. Like me, I’m sure you’re shocked to realise that “Cut rural library budgets by over 50%” wasn’t listed in the Platform the Sask Party ran on during that election. They also didn’t release a budget prior to the election so voters could make a fully informed […]
This song has been running through my head, pretty much on repeat since the Budget was released on March 22. So I’m going to take a brief break from the non-stop library themed posts of the past couple weeks and instead, spend some time today thinking about the wider implications of the Sask Party’s disastrous budget […]
The Honourable Don Morgan QC has said that combining public libraries and school libraries could be part of the solution to the drastic funding cuts imposed on Saskatchewan public libraries in the recent budget. But Mr. Morgan must know that, just as all lawyers are not the same, all libraries are also not the […]
Wanna know a secret? Although I’ve signed each of the various petitions that are available, attended rallies and done a lot of other work, both visible and behind the scenes, I haven’t formally written to my MLA or Minister Don Morgan or Premier Brad Wall about the recent cuts to Saskatchewan’s public libraries yet. As this blog, with over […]
For Throwback Thursday, I’m posting an article I found in the Spring 2010 issue of the Saskatchewan Library Trustees Association newsletter – a happier time only seven short years ago when the province’s ten library systems joined together to form SILS, a province-wide public library consortium that was the culmination of decades of inter-provincial cooperation between […]
So, yesterday’s post about “MLA says Saskatchewan has too many libraries. Librarian says Saskatchewan has too many MLAs” has become my most viewed post of all-time. Within 24 hours, it’s blown away my previous record holder which, ironically, was about a random encounter I had with Brad Wall, soon after he axed the Film Tax […]
The cut to Saskatchewan’s rural library system is $3.5 million dollars. The cost of the three unnecessary MLAs added by the Sask Party before the last provincial election is $750,000 and the NDP actually ran on a platform of cutting those three plus three more which would save the province $1.5 million dollars per year. Hmm, […]
Since the Saskatchewan Provincial Budget was announced last week, it’s pretty amazing to see the groundswell of protest at some of the most egregious and harmful cuts, especially to the province’s historic, innovative and world renowned public library system. For example, one Facebook group that sprang up is quickly approaching 4000 members after less than a […]
Brad Wall and his Sask Party buddies released their latest budget today and depending on the commentator you’re reading, it was either (borderline) cruel, cruel & unusual or a bloodbath. Some thoughts… Who goes through a massive resource boom and ends up raising PST? If you said the NDP, you’d be brainwashed wrong. That decision to […]
