I'm digressing from baby news for a moment to ask a favor of all of you that live in Ohio.
Governor Strickland, in an effort to balance the state budget, is proposing a 50% reduction in library funding. This 50% loss would be devastating to all of Ohio's libraries, forcing many of them to close, and many others to drastically reduce their services and hours. However, it would only serve to close 7% of the overall budget gap.
As a librarian, but also as a believer in libraries as a community resource, I'm concerned for the future of libraries in Ohio if this budget gets passed. Libraries are a valuable community resource in prosperous times, but are absolutely vital in times of economic trouble. They serve as community centers, havens for the unemployed and underemployed, homework help centers, computer labs, and much much more. A reduction in library funding, especially by this large an amount, would have a tremendous negative impact on many members of our communities, just when they need our services the most.
Please contact Governor Strickland and your state representatives to voice your concern over these cuts. The budget will be finalized by June 30th, so we only have 9 days to make our voices heard. For more information, please go to http://saveohiolibraries.com
(Thanks for listening. We now return to our regularly schedule programming...)
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