Municipalities in the southeast are now required to fork over more funding to compensate for the province's cuts to regional libraries.

The Southeast Regional Library board voted to increase its municipal funding by $5.77 per capita at their board meeting this past weekend. That is to make up for the 58 per cent funding cut to regional libraries handed down by the province in the budget last month. That cut is retroactive to January first for the libraries and came after zero consultation. Weyburn mayor Marcel Roy said the city is legally required to pay the amount voted on by the board, but it isn't the library board with whom he is upset.

"And with the cutbacks the province is giving us, this has to come out of our tax base," said Roy. "It's another whole downloading of the province onto all the cities; not only Weyburn but all the cities in the whole province."

He said libraries are a worthy investment. "It's an important focus for a lot of people within our community so we must maintain and support them throughout the province," he said.

Without the additional municipal funding, the Southeast Regional Library won't be able to remain open. Winding down operations and beginning the closing process was actually voted on at the meeting. The motion was defeated but it will be revisited later this summer.

"If we have a 0 per cent from our municipalities, Southeast will cease to exist in a few months," said the region's newly appointed director, Kate-Lee Nolin, at the Southeast Regional Library AGM. "If we deplete our reserves, which we have looked at, and we have severe cutting along the way, our estimation is keeping the doors open until, we'd say, Labour Day weekend."

"Our grant last year was for $961, 723. This year, with our budget cuts, we will be receiving $396,230. A difference of $565,493," explained Nolin.

Discover Weyburn's Pat Hume was at that meeting. To read his full coverage and listen to full interviews with Nolin and retired director Allan Johnson, CLICK HERE.