The Village of Keremeos has also signed on to send a letter of support for the Okanagan Regional Library (ORL)'s request to meet with provincial ministers and ask for more funding.
The Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen (RDOS)'s board of directors approved sending their own letter at their July 3 meeting.
The Village of Keremeos' council voted in support on Monday, July 7, as their community is one of 30 with an ORL branch.
The regional library has requested to meet with the Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction and the Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs at the upcoming Union of BC Municipalities conference.
The library is seeking support for a 20 per cent increase in core provincial library grants, the establishment of a social well-being grant and the establishment of a climate relief grant.
The 20 per cent increase in core provincial library grants would apply to the current Per Capita Operating Grant, Literacy and Equity Grant, OneCard Grant and Resource Sharing Grant. Library staff say this is necessary to meet growing community demands while relieving financial pressure on municipal governments.
The newly proposed social well-being grant would provide dedicated funding for resources and training in areas related to community well-being,
housing stability and poverty reduction.
The climate relief grant would provide assistance in allowing the libraries to safely provide refuge during climate emergencies, with many libraries already acting as de facto heating and cooling centres during extreme weather events.
The Okanagan Regional Library serves more than 399,000 people through 30 branches. It is the 16th-largest library system in Canada.
The regional district, serving communities and rural areas in the South Okanagan and Similkameen, covers an area of 10,413 square kilometres and serves a population of more than 90,000.
So far, Keremeos and the RDOS are the only ones in the South Okanagan Similkameen to have agreed to provide letters of support.
