The Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library (PARL) possibly cutting hours and services after being denied sustainable funding is raising concerns.

The cuts could mean some locations may need to close once a week, which limits access to books, internet, workspaces and event spaces.

Children’s Services Librarian for PARL and the Antigonish Branch Manager Kristel Fluren-Hunter shared with us how it will impact individuals, small organizations and nonprofits from using workspaces.

“It would be really a disservice to a lot of people if we would have to sort of cut back on programs and hours, because we know it’s really important for our community,” says Fluren-Hunter.

It would affect people who regularly use their space.

“The social connection thing is really important as well, because we sort of know how important social connection is for people’s mental and physical health. And there’s some people that come here just to feel connected with other people,” Fluren-Hunter adds.

She says some people are also concerned about having limited access to food from their pantry and fridge.

According to her, another concern people have is being able to access more new books.

She hared their book budget is not as it is supposed to be 10 per cent of their operating budget, but only around five per cent is able to be spent.