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Kimberley Public Library facing hurdles ahead
Kimberley City Council Report
By Nowell Berg
On March 10, City of Kimberley council held its regular bi-monthly meeting.
Councillors Sue Cairns, Kevin Dunnebacke, Diana Fox, Woody Maguire, Jason McBain and Sandra Roberts were present along with Mayor Don McCormick.
An archive of the meeting can be viewed on the City of Kimberley YouTube channel. Watch it here.
Jack Ratcliffe Community Award
The 2025 Jack Ratcliffe Commitment to Community Award was presented to Jim Webster.
According to Mayor McCormick, Webster has helped organize events like Round the Mountain, Symphony on the Mountain, Pipe band tattoo (10 years ago) and many orienteering events. His volunteering has “made the community a better place to be.”
Commenting on the award, Webster said, “I like to organize events. Its been a really great experience. Kimberley has a good core of volunteers for sporting and special events.”
Volunteering is not just one person “it’s the team that supports you,” he said.
Webster concluded, “It’s tough to get volunteers sometimes, but if you give people a project that they can take pride in, a role, and don’t hold their hand too much and let them be creative then they’ll all shine.”
Public Library Board Presentation
Tegan Madge and Dan Moe made a presentation to council about the current state-of-affairs at the Kimberley Public Library.
“Libraries are dedicated to serving the public good,” said Director Madge. That means “upholding intellectual freedom and privacy.”
Calling libraries “deep wells of information,” Madge said the library operates based on “the right of individuals to seek and receive information from all points of view without interference.”
She then offered her favourite quote about libraries; “A truly great library contains something to offend everyone.”
Board Trustee Moe noted that 2027 is the centennial of the library. The board is undertaking a strategic plan. One thing they are hoping to do is to make changes to the library structure so they can add “more board members” to the current seven.
Presenting the budget numbers for 2025, Moe noted there has been no significant increase in provincial library funding for the past 16 years.
The proposed library budget for 2025 will see a deficit of $75,000.
Most of that shortfall will be covered by $60,000 that remains from a provincial grant that was received three years ago.
Moe told council the library will operate “as normal” in 2025, but that future growth is “limited by the budget and physical space.”
Without an increase in funds from the city, Moe said the library “2026 budget could well face cuts.”
Coun. Roberts asked about “purging books to give you more space.”
Madge answered that “it doesn’t help with the bigger picture,” which is the limited amount of physical space.
Coun. Cairns asked about user numbers.
Madge said those numbers were being compiled and would be made available on the library website. She concluded saying, “all [user] numbers are increasing” across the board.
Council Code of Conduct
Communications Officer Maryse Leroux presented council with the latest version of the Council Code of Conduct.
Originally presented in 2023, the current code reflects lessons learned from other municipalities over the last two years. Leroux noted that the biggest change from previous versions was that the “adjudication process was clarified.”
The new policy covers: foundational principles of responsible conduct, the need to treat others with respect and dignity, interactions with staff and public, collection and handling of information, conflict of interest matters, complaint procedures, appointment of an independent investigator, and the informal resolution of complaints.
Coun. Roberts said she did not find anything to criticize about the policy. “It’s a pretty tight document.”
Mayor McCormick said that at 19 pages, it was “too long.” His suggestion: “break into two pieces.” The nine-pages of procedures could be “an addendum.”
Coun. Maquire supported the notion that it “could be simpler.” He also hoped that it would never be needed.
Coun. Cairns said the policy was “comprehensive. A well laid out process. Exactly what we need.”
Kimberley city council assembles twice monthly starting at 7 p.m.
The next regular council meeting: March 24.
e-KNOW file photos
e-KNOW
