Superpatron

Ray Bradbury and the HP Wright Library, Ventura County (CA)

via the NY Times:  A Literary Legend Fights for a Local Library

“Libraries raised me,” Mr. Bradbury said. “I don’t believe in colleges and universities. I believe in libraries because most students don’t have any money. When I graduated from high school, it was during the Depression and we had no money. I couldn’t go to college, so I went to the library three days a week for 10 years.”

Property tax dollars, which provide most of the financing for libraries in Ventura County, have fallen precipitously, putting the library system roughly $650,000 in the hole. Almost half of that amount is attributed to the H. P. Wright Library, which serves roughly two-thirds of this coastal city about 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

Here's a video of Bradbury talking at a Los Angeles library in 2007.

Library funding crisis in Ohio

from the Save Ohio Libraries site:

The Governor wants to cut the budget for public libraries by 50%. About 70% of public libraries in Ohio are funded solely by this fund, so cutting the already shrinking budget means library closures, layoffs and cutbacks in hours and materials.

We have until June 30th to get our voices heard.  ACT NOW!

You can get more official information from the Ohio Library Council here.

Thanks to Jenny Levine for the heads up.

Controversy in Seattle over proposed fine increases

The Stranger, which bills itself as "Seattle's Only Newspaper", writes about a revenue enhancement scheme at the Seattle Public Library to increase money received from fines. 

The librarians are making some noise. Saying "someone in the outside world should know," a Seattle Public Library (SPL) staffer forwarded The Stranger a series of internal documents proposing policy changes designed to decrease services and extract money from the library's most vulnerable patrons: old people, poor people, immigrants, and children. (The staffer requested to remain anonymous, citing a "sort of 1984 atmosphere at the library these days... morale is low.")

This comes after the annoucement that the Seattle library is closing for a week to save money.

Local journalism meets local libraries: Everyblock Charlotte listing of new books

Everyblock Charlotte is a so-called "hyperlocal" news service for Charlotte, NC, reporting on news and collecting public records from news sources through the area.  One of the feeds they show is the new additions to the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County.

I've seen new book listings in the local newspaper before - it's easiest in towns where there is a relatively small library - and it's nice to see municipal data being reused cleverly online, complete with book cover images.

Thanks to Matt Hampel for bringing this to my attention.

The role of libraries in economic hard times (recorded on WAMU Diane Rehm show)

On the Diane Rehm show on WAMU this morning:
11:00 The Role of Libraries in Economic Hard Times
There's a recording there too.

Libraries today have become multimedia centers, offering not only books but DVDs, e-books and Internet access. They can also be an especially important community resource during times of economic hardship. A look at the future of libraries in a slowing economy.

Guests

Carla Hayden, executive director, Enoch Pratt Free Library and past president of the American Library Association

Jim Rettig, President of the American Library Association. He is also the University Librarian at the Boatwright Memorial Library at the University of Richmond, Virginia.

Ginnie Cooper, Chief Librarian for the District of Columbia Public Library. She is the Former Executive Director of the Brooklyn Public Library.

"Young Philly Politics" and the battle to save Philadelphia libraries

I didn't catch this on the first go-around of Philadelphia library stories, but this caught my eye in a Philadelphia Inquirer story, "True Melting Pot Helped Save Libraries":

"People just came together in a very fast and almost surprising way," said Irv Ackelsberg, a former Community Legal Services lawyer and City Council candidate who sued Nutter on behalf of seven residents and the union representing library workers. "We've just come through a few months in which the impossible happened: The Phillies won the world series and Barack Obama became president. My God, we can do anything."

Ackelsberg's case was bolstered by the stories of his plaintiffs, who included a 15-year-old high school student from Ogontz; two women who homeschool their children, one from the Northeast and the other the Northwest; and a South Philly woman whose 11-year-old walks three blocks to the Queen Memorial branch.

He said the plaintiffs were "basically delivered" to him by a grassroots upwelling whose cohesiveness was partly attributed to the Internet community surrounding the Young Philly Politics blog run by his son, Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg.

I looked at the Libraries section of the Young Philly Politics blog and saw a group that is very different from the "Friends of the Library" group you normally see - this collection of people is younger, more radicalized, more mobile, poorer, and more willing to fight without compromise.  Amazing, really, to see things like this:

So, you want to send Mayor Goode an email about his op-ed? Care to guess who it would go to? That would be the email of Sandy Horrocks, the Free Library's spokeswoman. In other words, at worst, the Free Library wrote the op-ed for Mayor Goode. At best, they are coordinating a media campaign to shut down their own damn libraries.

It makes it a hell of a lot tougher to save the libraries when there is leadership on the inside that is pushing to close the doors, and is, in fact, waging its own bizarre public relations blitz against the neighborhoods it is supposed to serve.

with 46 comments on the post.

Thanks to Dave Pattern's "Hot Stuff" blog for the word of the day for 1/1/09 ("block") and the pointer that brought me back to dig deeper.

Philadelphia library closings: protests, lawsuits, read-ins, marches, rallies

11 Philadelphia library branches are due to close 1 Jan 2009 because of budget cuts.  Some survey of the news surrounding that.

Philadelphia CityPaper: BREAKING NEWS: Library advocates win injunction

Talk about dramatic: With just over 24 hours before the doors of 11 branch libraries were to be shuttered, locks changed and keys reposessed from library staff (that's according to a librarian), Court of Common Pleas Judge Idee Fox granted an injunction that prohibits the city from closing the libraries after all. Apparently — and we'll have more on this later — the judge also specifically ordered that the injunction would stay in place during the appeals process.

MyFox Philadelphia, 12/29/2008: Protestors Try To Block Library Closings In Court, Heckle Mayor

This is a really emotional issue for a lot of people. The courtroom was packed, and so was Mayor Michael Nutter's conference room. They are trying to do everything they can to save the libraries, which are slated to close Jan. 1, Fox 29's Robin Taylor reported.

Angry protesters heckled Nutter as he discussed library cuts.

Eleven branches will close Thursday unless a judge steps in and issues an injunction.

Philadelphia CityPaper, 12/29/2008: Hearings begin on libraries

Hearings are taking place as we speak on the two separate lawsuits filed in recent weeks to stop Mayor Michael Nutter from closing branch libraries. The first lawsuit was filed by local attorney/former candidate for City Council Irv Ackelsberg on behalf of library patrons and concerned community groups. The second and more recent lawsuit was filed by Councilmembers Blackwell, Green and Kelly.

With the uproar over Nutter's decision, it's no surprise that Courtroom 426 was packed this morning with library supporters — a very diverse crowd indeed.

Free Speech Radio News has a 12/23 story:  Philadelphia Residents Fighting Library Closures

Over the past month hundreds of Philadephia residents have taken to the streets to protest plans to close 11 of the 54 branches of the Free Library. Holding read-ins, rallies and marches they have told mayor Michael Nutter that closing their neighborhoods' educational resource centers is not the proper way to deal with the city's $1 billion budget deficit. FSRN's Andalusia Knoll has more.

More information is available from the Friends of the Free Library Philadelphia.

the library as a place of refuge in the snow

It's good to know that on a cold snowy day that there is a warm library to visit.

public library funding: city vs. school vs. free-standing

I know that this will oversimplify things a bit, but I want to get it out into text before the thought goes away.

In the US there seems to be three ways for public local funding of libraries: they are a part of a school system, they are part of a municipal city budget, or they have their own independent tax and funding authority.  (I suppose Indiana has some more thoroughly state-wide funding, so that's a fourth.  There's bound to be others).

If I were to look at where the best support at the community level is for public libraries, it seems to be where libraries have to pass their own millages to support their operations and growth.  Taxpayers vote library funding up or down, and by being independent of city budgets there is no internal budget battles vs. fire or police or water or sewer services.

This is also an argument for a library board that's elected, not appointed, so that change in the direction of the organization can come from a vote of the people and not an entrenched set of political appointees.

In Michigan the legislation that set the movement towards publicly elected district library boards in motion is Public Act 24 of 1989.

San Diego, CA library closings

from Sign on San Diego, November 11 2008

Possible library, rec center closings draw howls of protest

SAN DIEGO – Mayor Jerry Sanders' proposal to shutter 17 libraries and recreation facilities to reduce a $43 million deficit has prompted hundreds of calls and e-mails to City Hall.

City Council President Scott Peters' office has received about 20 phone calls and 100 e-mails, with most lamenting the library cuts, Peters' spokesperson said.

from Library Journal

Citing “plummeting tax revenues,” San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders has proposed the temporary closure of seven of 33 branches of the San Diego Public Library to help meet a $43 million gap. While Sanders also proposed closing recreational facilities and cutting the budget of police and fire services, libraries appear to face a larger percentage cut, $2 million of $37 million, or 5.4%. The library will lose 33.81 positions, according to the mayor's report.

In a statement, Sanders said that the libraries were selected based on lower usage as well as their proximity to newer, larger branches. (There’s also a Central Library.) The Board of Library Commissioners voted unanimously to oppose Sanders’s proposal, noting that library circulation has increased 8% in the last three months, a testament to the importance of library service in hard times.

The Friends of the San Diego Public Library have a web site, hosted on the city's computers.  It says nothing about this right now.

The San Diego Public Library Foundation has posted the news and is asking for public support for the libraries at commission meetings.