Library and museum present budgets to council

By Stephen Dafoe

Morinville – Prior to Morinville Town Council passing first reading of the 2012 budget, representatives from the Morinville Public Library and Musée Morinville Museum presented their own budgets to council for consideration. The museum is looking for $82,000 for the coming year, an amount identical to last year’s request. The library is requesting $220,273.28, an increase of $11,372.28 over 2010’s request.

Historical Society treasurer Murray Knight told councillors the museum had an active year. In addition to achieving accreditation as a museum, the historical society put on a successful re-enactment of the incorporation of the Town during centennial celebrations, organized a successful Canada Day event and were active in St. Jean Baptiste Festival 2011.

Next year’s activities will include completing upgrading vignettes in St. Jean Baptiste Park, staging Canada Day celebrations once again, establishing a $500 scholarship for Morinville Community High School, and raising the museums profile in the Greater Edmonton Area.

Knight said the museum had a total of 1,573 visitors in 2010, an average of 131 visitors per month. The museum society consists of 12 members, five of whom are below the age of 65. A total of 933.5 volunteer hours were clocked in 2010 by the society.

Library Manager Isabelle Cramp told councillors the library had done a good job maintaining services and programs at the Parish Hall and Community Cultural Centre. Cramp said 51,512 items had been circulated in 2011 thus far, and that 19,023 people had used the library, not all of them library card holders.

Library Board Chair Noreen Radford told council the library had been responsible with the public monies it had been given in 2010 and in addition to being on track with its budget, the library was also on track for the 4 per cent increase it had projected for 2012. The board chair went on to say the library would soon be entering larger accommodations and seeking to offer a high level of service. Part of that level of service will be accomplished through the addition of a full time assistant manager position, allowing for better management coverage and enhanced programs.

The library’s request of $220,000 from the Town of Morinville represents two thirds of the library’s $325,000 budget for 2012. The museum’s request of $82,000 accounts for 73 per cent of the museums $116,000 2012 budget.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

1 Comment

  1. At roughly 1500 visitors the museum budget reflects a rough cost of 50 per visitor. Now to me this seems like a rather unsustainable level of funding given current usage levels.

    Maybe we could look at cutting this museum budget given the current expected shortfall in the proposed town budget. We need to as a town start prioritizing benefits based on level of usage and participation.

Comments are closed.