Stephanie McDonald
Northern News Services
Monday, June 25, 2007

IQALUIT - Patrons of the Iqaluit Centennial Library will be facing a closed door more often than not this summer, due to a staff shortage.

The Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth has reduced hours at the library to seven and a half hours a week.

"We didn't have any say in the matter," said chair of the library board Catherine Hoyt. "They didn't even ask our opinion. They just informed us the library was closing to seven and a half hours and all the programming was cancelled."

The library had previously had two full-time librarians, three part-time, and several volunteers. With the departure of both full-time librarians as of the beginning of June, CLEY decided to pare back hours of operation.

"It they had done what they should have done weeks ago or months ago, this wouldn't have happened," Hoyt said of CLEY's slow action on hiring a new librarian.

All regular and summer programs have been cancelled until staffing levels are back to normal. The summer reading program, run in conjunction with the city day camp, will be hit the hardest.

"It's a program where they're enjoying kids to come to the library to read," Hoyt said. The program targets youth between the age of six and 12 to maintain their reading skills over the summer. An estimated 200 kids are usually involved in the program.

Inter-library loans were the first services to be cut, leaving library patrons from across the territory without access to books from across the country. Nunavut's libraries are tied to one system.

The library also has an extensive Arctic collection that many tourists to the territory take advantage of. The Centennial Library has been receiving e-mails from European tourists who hope to do research, asking when the library will be open this summer, Hoyt said.

The library has the only free Internet access in the city.

With reduced hours those in the community, as well as tourists and temporary workers passing through, who depend on library as a place to check e-mail and do research will be out of luck, said Rick Armstrong, a member of the library board.

"What it means for the community is there will be less access to books, less literacy programs, less things for kids to do this summer," Hoyt said.

In a letter to the library board, the Minister of CLEY said that the job has now been posted and they hope to have the position filled within four to six weeks.

While hopeful that this will happen, it is not soon enough to save the summer programs, Hoyt points out.

Upon hearing of the reduction of hours, the library board sent CLEY a letter of suggestions, including approaching people in Iqaluit who were qualified or who had worked at the library before and could potentially fill in on a short-term basis. The board also suggesting increasing evening and weekend hours or allowing volunteers to play a larger role.

While Iqaluit's other public library at Nunavut Arctic College does have a collection of children's books, it will be closed from the beginning of July to the end of August, according to library technician Katharine Tagak.

CLEY had not returned phone calls by press time.