From: Karin Zilla (karinz@certifiedemployment.com)
Date: Fri Apr 08 2005 - 12:00:26 PDT
From: "Karin Zilla" <karinz@certifiedemployment.com> Subject: FW: [CALIX:3859] NY Times editorial about Salinas....... Date: Fri, 8 Apr 2005 12:00:26 -0700 Message-ID: <NEBBLKCKOKHOCPLBEACCOENADOAA.karinz@certifiedemployment.com>
Perhaps Lincoln Cushing or someone directly involved can address a letter to
the Times explaining how long and hard they worked to restore 26 hours per
week of library service, an average of a little more than 8 hours for each
of the three libraries. Not exactly a resolution to the crisis but a mini
Band-Aid.
Karin
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-calix@listproc.sjsu.edu [mailto:owner-calix@listproc.sjsu.edu]On
Behalf Of Kim Anderson
Sent: Friday, April 08, 2005 11:32 AM
To: calix@listproc.sjsu.edu
Subject: [CALIX:3859] NY Times editorial about Salinas.......
New York TimesApril 8, 2005EDITORIAL An Issue for the First Lady
he sad state of the nation's libraries was driven home last week when all of
the libraries in John Steinbeck's birthplace, Salinas, Calif., came close to
closing. The crisis in Salinas is part of a larger picture in which
financially strapped local governments have been slashing library hours and
book budgets. Public officials, starting with Laura Bush, the most powerful
librarian in the world, should be clamoring for greater resources for
libraries.
The troubles in Salinas began last fall, when two referendums that would
have brought in more tax money went down to defeat. The City Council
responded by voting to close all three of Salinas's libraries.
Such a step would have made Salinas, a farming community that was the site
of some of Cesar Chavez's biggest drives to organize farmworkers, the
largest city in the nation without a library. Money has since been raised,
and Salinas has backed down from the closings, but the libraries' situation
remains precarious.
There have been many library cutbacks across the country that have gotten
far less attention. Detroit has slashed library services, and the library in
Bedford, Tex., has closed its doors for at least six months. The New York
Public Library's services were cut substantially after the Sept. 11 attacks,
and have come back only recently.
As globalization takes hold, American workers have more competition than
ever before from well-educated, hard-working people in places like India and
China. For the United States to maintain its standing and its standard of
living, it needs to make a greater commitment to books, literacy training,
materials on English as a second language, and all of the other services
libraries provide.
Congress should make libraries a higher priority. But even if it does, most
of the money for libraries will still be raised at the state and local
level, where the competition for budget dollars is intense.
Mrs. Bush, who is a librarian, has quietly supported greater federal
spending on libraries and started a small foundation for libraries. But she
would be doing a real service if she spoke out more forcefully to encourage
states, local governments and private donors to give libraries the resources
they need. Second terms are a time when occupants of the White House usually
think about their legacies. Being the nation's foremost champion of
libraries would be a laudable one for Mrs. Bush.
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