Anyone looking to curl up with the latest bestseller will not find it in library branches in Antigonish and Pictou counties.

The Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library system recently stopped making new book orders, a symptom of what chief librarian Eric Stackhouse calls chronic underfunding.

"Unfortunately, something has to give," he told CBC News on Friday.

"Sometimes we do halt ordering for a variety of reasons, but this is a case of years of underfunding that has gone on for too long."

In an attempt to keep costs down, the library system has halted training for staff and has sought outside funding to keep programs like the writer-in-residence going, Stackhouse said.

Without these measures, he added, the library system would be looking at a $50,000 to $60,000 shortfall by the end of the year.

The Pictou-Antigonish library system gets its funding from the Nova Scotia Department of Education and local municipalities, which are also responsible for the buildings.

The library board is required to fundraise three per cent of its operating costs. But to make up the difference, it has been fundraising at eight per cent, Stackhouse said.

About 20,000 people have library cards in an area with a population just over 50,000. Funding is based on population, which means with a drop in numbers, the library can expect less money next year.

But Stackhouse said more people are using the libraries. And not just for taking out books. They're using the computers and treat the buildings as common gathering places where everyone is welcome.

"In many of our rural areas, you lose your library, there really isn't anything left," he said.

The Pictou-Antigonish library has launched a letter-writing campaign to urge the province to boost funding for libraries.

If nothing changes before March 31, Stackhouse warns of cuts in library hours and programs, and even fewer new books on the shelves.

Education Minister Karen Casey was unavailable for comment Friday.