The cost of virtually everything is up these days including books, meaning it’s tough on libraries trying to stock the shelves.
Their operating grant from government hasn’t changed substantially in a decade but the cost of books has gone up by close to 40 per cent.
Emma Craig, a regional librarian in St. John’s, says usage of the library system shot up by about 70 per cent during COVID and many of those people are still availing of the service.
Their big fans are still the older generation but their second biggest is family. There is no age restriction so anybody can qualify for a library card including babies.
