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IKPIARJUK/ARCTIC BAY
Arctic Bay has found a new home for the public library, which will be moved to a former daycare building, mayor Frank May told Nunavut News/North May 24.

The decision came after the district education authority (DEA) ended its service agreement with Nunavut Public Library Services (NPLS) March 31.

"It's either do something or lose it," May said, noting NPLS gave the hamlet until May 31 to find a solution. At a special meeting May 17, council "identified some funds we can use to get an unused building back in a serviceable condition, and we've taken it on ourselves to establish a public library in Arctic Bay."

Operational costs and wages will come out of the hamlet's pocket, May said, and converting the building to a library will cost about $5,000.

"We might not be able to put the stop signs up this year, but we'll have a library," he said. NPLS manager Ron Knowling will visit the hamlet in early June to assess the building's suitability.

The decision to purge the public library from Inuujaq School was made January 24 but not revealed until an April 11 letter was made public April 25. On the defensive after the community learned of the library's closure, the DEA allowed concerned citizens to attend a May 15 DEA meeting. Four attended: Mayor Frank May, economic development officer Clare Kines, and mental health nurse Irene Swoboda, all speaking against the library closure; and one Inuk woman whose name was not provided, and who asked May, Kines, Swoboda, principal Abdus Salam and the interpreter to leave the room while she spoke.

May emerged from the meeting aware that the education authority was not budging on its decision.

He is also aware he may have to find more space soon.

Authority chair Qaumayuq Oyukuluk issued a news release May 23 detailing three reasons the library was closed, a decision that came "after a long discussion with DEA council members, school administration and Qikiqtani School Operations," the release stated.

The release, titled "Facts regarding the Arctic Bay public library," suggested other non-curriculum uses of school space will soon get the boot. Inuujaq principal Abdus Salam implied as much April 25 when he told Nunavut News/North space was the main reason the library had to leave.

Whatever space was recovered after Nunavut Public Library Services removed its books will be filled by more books, according to the May 23 release, which states that the "school library will be working as usual and we are going to upgrade the library with new books and materials."

The library "will now be used for curriculum purposes," Oyukuluk stated.

May is working to ensure the community can continue to use the school gymnasium.

"If you want to play indoor soccer or basketball, the only facility we have is the school gymnasium," he said. "Right now the hamlet is in the process of trying to work out an agreement with (the department of) education to have access to it," he said.

The push to curriculum-only usage underscores another reason given for closing the library: security, which is now "one of the major concerns of DEA, school administration, (Community and Government Services), QSO, and Department of Education," but was not a concern mentioned when Salam first spoke to Nunavut News/North about the issue.

"Users of the library hang around the school, go to classrooms, and sometimes go to the gym from the school side and keep the gym door open for the whole night," Oyukuluk stated in the release. "DEA was tolerant for years but it has come to a point that some decision had to be made."

May offered to use hamlet resources to cover administrative and security concerns if the DEA would keep the library at the school, but the DEA has not responded to the offer, he said.

Meanwhile, the DEA's third reason is being called into question. Oyukuluk states, in the release, that "issues with the librarian expedited the decision to remove the public library from the school building."

The release then went on to list those issues, which has caused the librarian in question to consider legal action against the authority.

Nunavut News/North spoke with that part-time librarian, Buffy MacNeil, who disputes the DEA's claims. She has retained Alberta law firm Ahlstrom Wright Oliver & Cooper, which is preparing a defamation case. MacNeil was told in January the library would be closing, but continued to work 20 hours per week until going on maternity leave when the funding agreement ran out March 31.

"At this point it appears that a campaign of defamation borne of a private agenda may be behind the allegations," lawyer Steven Cooper stated in an e-mail to Nunavut News/North. "My client is taking the allegations very seriously and will be taking actions appropriate to that level of concern. The originator source(s) will be receiving a warning and demand for apology as well as a demand for damages commensurate with the harms alleged."

Cooper was retained only this week, and has not yet filed a claim.

The possibility of a defamation suit was news to Salam, who said the DEA had not yet been approached by MacNeil's lawyers late May 25.

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