April 30, 2025
Premier Holt Must Save School Libraries
FREDERICTON – With Anglophone School District West recently announcing that it will eliminate all school librarian positions this fall due to budget cuts imposed by the Holt government, Green Party Leader and MLA for Fredericton Lincoln David Coon is calling on Premier Holt to reverse the cuts and save school libraries.
“I was gobsmacked to learn that school districts are being forced to cut $43 million dollars from an already underfunded education system. Anglophone West, which includes all the schools in my riding, is being forced to eliminate school librarians in its first step to cutting $9.3 million from its budget,” said Coon. “Libraries and the librarians that run them are essential to improving literacy in our schools. This is absurd.”
On Monday Education Minister Claire Johnson said that she has asked the districts to “lead transformative change by taking strategic steps to redistribute funding to strengthen in-classroom learning.” These cuts have forced Anglophone School District West to eliminate the positions of 26 librarians, 19 educational assistants and 10 administrative assistants.
“Robbing Peter to pay Paul is not transformational change. It’s code for budget cuts to already underfunded public services!” exclaimed Coon. “The Premier needs to intervene to reverse these budget cuts to the education system so school library services can be saved.”
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