Population growth is translating into a roughly $30,000 boost for local libraries if the Province continues to fund libraries at the current rate.

The recent census results show the population in the region South Central Regional Libraries serve saw an increase of 3,780 people since 2011.

Winkler was also considered the fastest growing city in Manitoba, reaching 11th of the fastest growing municipalities in Canada (with at least 5,000 inhabitants located outside metropolitan area). The city saw 18 percent growth jumping from 10,670 to 12,591 in five years.

Ching notes the revised numbers will have an impact thanks to the provincial library funding model of $8.50 per capita.

"It's really exciting to see the numbers come out," Director of Library Services Cathy Ching says. "It does give us a substantial increase."

She notes they suspected the region had seen a large population increase, which will affect their 2018 budget moving forward.

"We're so fortunate we live in an area people want to come to," Ching says, noting every supporting municipality saw varying degrees of population increase.

The funding increase will help support the salaries approved by the Board.

In a report this fall, Ching was also surprised to find library technicians doing similar work in school divisions made considerably more money.

In response, last year SCRL requested a special levy to help increase wages, but left room to adjust that amount from funding municipalities based on the census bump.

"We left some wiggle room to adjust things in the coming year," she says. "It's number crunching time."

She notes the cost of books is also on the rise, compounded by a weakening purchasing power because of the U.S/Canadian dollar exchange rate.

Last year 336,300 books and other materials were borrowed from SCRL branches, with 24,976 people holding library cards.