Rachel Reid is putting some of the success behind Heated Rivalry toward a cause that helped shape her career in the first place. The Nova Scotia author has announced a donation of $300,000 to the Annapolis Valley Regional Library after learning that five branches were facing permanent closure due to lack of funding.
Reid told CBC News that the decision was driven by a desire to give back to the community that supported her long before her romance novels became a global success. "I had to do it because I don't know what the point is of being a successful author in Nova Scotia if you're not going to use it for good," she said.
The donation comes after the library board turned to its reserves to keep the threatened branches operating through next month. The five locations, in Hantsport, Kentville, Lawrencetown, Port Williams and Middleton, had been facing closure as the library struggled to secure enough funding to maintain them through the end of this fiscal year.
Earlier this year, the board had asked the municipalities it serves for $351,000 in additional funding, but only received about a third of that amount.
Reid's contribution was warmly welcomed by local officials, with Kentville mayor Andrew Zebian sharing on Facebook that the donation "is an incredible gift, and it will make a real difference for libraries and the people who use them across our region". Library CEO Julia Merritt said the $300,000 gift will allow all five branches to remain open until the end of the current fiscal year, with most of the money going toward staffing costs.
"This is an incredibly generous gift, and we are profoundly grateful to Rachel for choosing to invest in libraries, the Annapolis Valley, and the people our libraries serve" Merritt said in a statement, adding that the donation will help the library continue providing opportunities for people across the region to read, learn and connect.
The library, however, has stressed that the gift is not a substitute for reliable annual funding from governments.
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