A French cultural group on P.E.I. is disappointed the Confederation Centre Library is falling short when it comes to offering assistance to francophones, but the province doesn't see the problem.

'We certainly have received no complaints or concerns at the Confederation public library.'— Harry Holman, Department of Culture

The provincial library recently added Chinese materials and hired a temporary staff member who speaks both Mandarin and Japanese in reaction to an influx of immigrants from China, but no one on staff is considered fluent in French.

Edmond Richard, president of the St. Thomas Aquinas Society, said not being able to cater to francophones in the province's largest library just isn't right.

"As a francophone I'm a little disappointed, because there's francophones from all over the Island and all over Canada that do pass there, so I think that it is a problem," said Richard.

Harry Holman, director of culture, heritage and libraries with the province, said while there are some staff who can speak French at the library, he doesn't feel it's necessary to have anyone who's officially bilingual. He noted all the province's French library materials were moved to the Carrefour in Charlottetown and the other two provincial French libraries at the request of the French community.

"We certainly have received no complaints or concerns at the Confederation public library, because of the quality of services that we have been able to offer at the Carrefour," he said.

As for the Confederation Centre, Holman said the province can't afford to hire bilingual staff, and even if it could, bilingual librarians are hard to find.