Council plans library protest

RICHARD PAYNE

Shellharbour City Council has voted to petition the State Government over the continual reduction in NSW library funding, with councillor Helen Stewart labelling the Government decision to strip resources from the public amenity as ‘disgusting’. The State Government has cut funding to public libraries over the past 25 years to the extent that they currently only fund 7.8 percent of annual operating costs per library, down on 23.6 percent in 1980. The NSW Government has the lowest per capita contribution to public libraries of all states and territories within Australia. Following a widespread community campaign, Shellharbour City Council has joined other local councils in supporting a “Day of Action” on November 29, when the community will rally outside Parliament House, while all public libraries will close for the day within Shellharbour. In addition to the “Day of Action”, councillors also voted to support a local petition to be housed at the four public libraries within the municipality. Council will also withdraw local libraries from the Premier’s Reading Challenge, a children’s reading program that carries the Premier’s title but receives no funding from the government. “Something has to be done, this is definitely a crisis,” Councillor Helen Stewart said. “Libraries are learning tools for young people and at the moment they are grossly under - funded. I don’t think this should be made into a political issue but the fact is that there has been a Labor Government in power for some time and we have seen further reductions in funding. “The level it (State Government funding) is at now is absolutely disgusting. Public libraries should be fitted with all the latest technology and at the moment they can hardly afford to keep their doors open.” Believing local school children are being left disadvantaged by the state of public libraries, Cr Stewart said the State Government should move to increase levels of funding as a matter of urgency, saying that without the important public amenity many children will be left without proper learning facilities. “We talk about giving our kids the best start in life, but we will not even give them access to fully funded libraries,” she said. “It’s not even just the kids. Reading is a great form of relaxation, there is nothing like curling up with a good book. “Our libraries are being left out in the cold.”