LGNSW president Linda Scott visited Blayney and Orange on Wednesday to inspect their library facilities and meet with councils on the campaign.

After cutting library funding in the state budget by 18 per cent, last month NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced the government would instead invest $60 million across the state to help councils meet their communities’ needs. 

Orange City Council had expressed concerns about the cuts because they could remove programs designed to keep its library relevant.

Cr Scott said the association welcomed the $60 million and a commitment from Labor for $50 million, to last until 2023, but it was still not enough.

“It’s still short of the $94 million objective that the [Renew Our Libraries] initiative set up at the beginning of the campaign,” she said.

She said the extra $34 million would compensate for 40 years of underinvestment in public libraries, but it was not the only measure needed.

“They will cut it off after 2023 and without indexation, it won’t offer long-term funding solutions,” she said.

Cr Scott said the long-term funding model for libraries was meant to be 50 per cent for the state government and 50 per cent for councils.

“But the reality is councils are bearing about 80 per cent of the cost at the moment,” she said.

After raising concerns about discrepancies in the amount of money available for council candidates per constituent, 17 cents for Orange compared to 69 cents in Dubbo, Ms Scott said the association had received “a good hearing” by the parliamentary inquiry.

“There’s opportunity to make reforms to have a fair chance,” she said.

She also expected to discuss the China Sword recycling challenge with Orange councillors after China decided to no longer accept waste.

“We certainly think there’s opportunity out of the China crisis to look at employment opportunities for the management of waste locally.”

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