Saskatoon Public Library laying off employees

The Saskatoon Public Library (SPL) has issued layoff notices to staff as part of efforts to address funding concerns..
 
An email sent to employees from SPL director Carol Cooley was obtained by 650 CKOM late Tuesday.
 
20 employees, filling the equivalent of 14 full-time positions, have been let go. 

“I encourage you to provide friendship and support if you have a colleague who has been negatively impacted by this change,” Cooley wrote.

Saskatoon’s libraries lost their $800,000 operating grant in March’s provincial government. But that money was later restored when the province backtracked on cuts to the province’s libraries amid concerns about the proposed elimination of the inter-library loan program.
 
In an interview with 650 CKOM on Wednesday, Cooley said that despite the return of that provincial money, the library still had to make cuts with an eye on 2018.

Cooley explained that the pressure comes from the city, which has its own shortfall to deal with after losing millions of dollars worth of provincial grants that were also cut in the budget.

“We know that the city received a significant budget cut from the province,  and our funding from the province is only stable until March of 2018,” she said.

The city provides over 90 per cent  of the SPL’s budget.