2010 Provincial Funding Support for Public Library Service
The role of the provincial government in public library service delivery is to:
- support equitable access to library service
- maintain a governance structure
- provide funding assistance
- establish and support a provincewide resource-sharing network
To that end, the provincial government, through the Public Library Services Branch (PLSB), provides monetary support in a variety of ways.
Operating grants
The primary means by which the provincial government supports public library service is through annual operating grants to library boards. In 2010, provincial grants from PLSB to municipal and system library boards totalled $24,729,402 - $18,226,880 to municipal library boards and $6,502,522 to system library boards. This support equals $7.01 per capita served.
Provincial grants to municipal library boards as compared to Local Appropriation can be seen in the following charts:
Provincial and Municipal per capita (2010) | Provincial and Municipal per capita as a percentage (2010)
Public library network support
The provincial government also provides network support to enable provincewide sharing of public library resources. Public library network support provided by PLSB totalled $3,984,584 in 2010. This included:
- $1,500,000 to the Alberta Public Library Electronic Network (APLEN)
- $250,000 to The Alberta Library
- $186,270 to Chinook Arch Regional Library System for service to broker provincewide, national and international interlibrary loans from all types of libraries
- $2,048,314 for SuperNet connectivity for all Alberta public libraries
Total Provincial Support
In 2010, total provincial support for public library service (as provided by PLSB) totalled
$28,713,986, or $8.14 per capita served.
Have questions about the information presented here? Contact Kerry Anderson at Public Library Services Branch.
