Dear Editor
Minister of Education Don Morgan inherited an education system that is the envy of many, that has done amazing things with limited funds, and he didn’t care enough to get to know what and how they were doing.
April 4, Morgan requested that, despite $4.8 million in cuts to libraries, he would like Saskatchewan’s inter-library loan program to continue. How? Morgan again has shown us how little he knows about libraries, and for a minister of education that isn’t’ acceptable.
Saskatchewan’s One Province, One Library Card program is one of the best in the country, maybe the best in the country. It is something librarians are justifiably proud of. The people who make it happen are truly unsung heroes.
It is also as lean as it can possibly get. It barely functions with the budget it has. If you talk to the people that make this program happen they will tell you that before the cuts, the couriers who drive materials from one library to another barely had time to complete their routes. The bins of books, cds and dvds were as heavy as occupational health and safety allowed (and maybe sometimes a bit more, ask how many employees have had shoulder or knee problems), and the employees were working at wages that certainly do not speak to their education or the demands of their jobs. There was nowhere to cut.
The One Province, One Library Card cannot sustain any budget cut. Morgan didn’t know that.
Politicians are not expected to know everything about their portfolios, but they are expected to listen if they don’t know. That is what consulting is about and if he isn’t interested in listening, then he needs to find a different job.
Wayne Schlapkohl
North Battleford
