By Emily Stonehouse

I was ready to start this editorial, flying the flag with bold letters crying ‘Long Live the Library’.

We all know that during budget talks, the first victim to the chopping block is the library, followed closely by any sort of arts and culture in the community.

And I am not necessarily giving a dig at the process. I value roads and public works as well. I recognize the need to have them in decent shape to keep our communities afloat.

But in a past life, I was the supervisor for the Minden Hills Cultural Centre, and I went to bat more than once to make my case for why we need the arts in the community. Out of all the departments within the Township of Minden Hills during my time as a senior staffer, the Cultural Centre continued to get the short end of the stick. And I can guarantee that was not from lack of trying.

But while I had my flag prepped, ready for war with county council when I saw their liaison reports to slash the proposed budget by nearly 25 per cent, I will admit that I didn’t know the full story.

For the past few years, the library has ended their fiscal season with a surplus, allowing them to build up a reserve of sorts. And while cutting the budget this year and using up those cached surpluses may not put them in an ideal position when 2027 budgeting rolls around, I recognize the logic behind lowering the ask amount to better align with the spending patterns in recent years.

I am hoping the final number finds a bit of middle ground. In the ping pong conversation that is budget deliberations, there is often a little wiggle room.

But what I was pleasantly surprised to see was that every county councillor made a point of going on the record to say they value the library. Andrea Brown, the CEO and chief librarian for Haliburton County painted an outside-the-box picture of library services.

It’s not just books and library cards (though those do carry tremendous value), it’s also WiFi, clean and accessible washrooms, varied, professional programming, a safe and warm space to retreat from the cold.

Libraries are community hubs for everyone along the socioeconomic spectrum, all ages, all backgrounds, all hobbies and passions and interests.

So to hear every representative from each lower tier say they value the contributions of our libraries, that was refreshing.

While the budget meeting dragged at times (as they often tend to do), it was a different meeting than I had seen before. I recall budget meetings where each line item was read out loud; a careful game of pie in the sky; throwing it all out there to see what sticks.

There was a human value to this meeting, though. Between the library and the introduction of the community health and well-being levy – a 0.5 per cent tax increase that would go towards protecting the most vulnerable in the community through housing, harm reduction, senior supports, and emergency or emerging health pressures – it was a breath of fresh air to hear the plights of our community coming to the table.

It wasn’t just about roads and potholes. It was about how we can lift up the people in our community who continue to fall through the gaps.

Kudos to the county and library staff, who prioritized people this time around, and got the conversation started on a larger stage.

And to the county councillors present and future, let’s continue on this path of community care.