Public Libraries CLOSED @ Edit Red Writing Community

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cinesanity
j. m. scoville
United States

Yes, it's true. Every Public Library in Jackson County, Oregon, has been sealed CLOSED.

"ALL 15 Jackson County Library branches are as of Saturday, April 7, 2007, due to a lack of funding," so reports the website.

Check out the story at: http://www.jcls.org/

This is completely insane.

easywriter58 Online E-mail this user Add to Readers 05/07/2007	Does this mean there will be a surge of online book shopping?

RJWilliams E-mail this user Add to Readers 05/07/2007	Janyce, shame on you...

destructogirl69 E-mail this user Add to Readers 05/07/2007	That's insane! No, I really don't have anything else to add. That's just insane.

nonalienabductee E-mail this user Add to Readers 05/07/2007	That is the most horrible thing. Protest, protest, picket your representative, hell, KIDNAP your senator if you have to. FIFTEEN LIBRARIES CLOSING IS OBSCENE.

solaris E-mail this user Add to Readers 06/07/2007	it's wrong wrong wrong just goes to show, if the money's not in it because it's a public service - you have to fight tooth and nail. where would MANY if not MOST of us have been if not for the libraries in which to spend hours as kids? ALL those shelves of books - such a wealth of imagination, information, and delight. kick up a stink, don't sit back and allow it to happen hang on, this was back in April. any updates? still closed? disgusting Post edited on: 06/07/2007 12:55:52 AM

alandane E-mail this user Add to Readers 06/07/2007	Yeah, I've seen this ploy played out way too much. You see, when politicians aren't getting the tax increases they want to fund already over-bloated local governments, they get pissy and take away something that matters. We have all seen it. They will close down a fire station, or cut back on police, or snow removal, or trash collection, etc, etc, etc. Meanwhile, the state senator still has six secretaries, four of which file their nails all day, the cafeteria in city hall is still serving steak, the local board still gets free parking and office space downtown, and hey, everyone just got a new blank check to redecorate their office after voting themselves a pay raise. After all, they work SO damn hard closing things down. At the same time, our taxes still keep going up. I am sure if you check the Jackson County park system, you'll find that they closed down the wading pools for the kids, but the golf course that the politicians use just hired on two more groundskeepers. Sick. What's next? Public schools claiming that they can't buy new text books to teach our kids so they have to go without, while teachers continue to NOT pay ANYTHING for health insurance like the rest of us? Oh, wait, that already happens, and is a different rant.... ~Dane

E-mail this user Add to Readers 06/07/2007	Three things I hate to hear about ... a church burning, beer spilling and libraries closing.

sunshine E-mail this user Add to Readers 06/07/2007	My friends were just telling me about this, they were really upset. I can't even imagine! They said this was the biggest library closing in the history of the United States, AND I think their library had just been renovated. It's so terrible.

cinesanity E-mail this user Add to Readers 06/07/2007	Here's an article about this tragic situation. By the way, the city of Ashland lies in this library desert. Ashland is world reknown for its Shakespearian Festival. Lots of William but no public libraries -- spooky. Jackson County, Oregon, Closes Libraries MEDFORD (AP) - Jackson County was closing its 15 libraries Friday because the accustomed federal timber payments used to sustain them are in doubt, and in many towns the closures were marked with bittersweet observances. In Eagle Point, Carole Mercer carefully removed embroidered jeans and tennis shoes Thursday from the local branch where they had been on display in honor of her daughter. Mercer had donated $100,000 to help build the two-year-old branch. Her 20-year-old daughter, Sarah Ann, died in 1997. Mercer also removed her portrait. �??I cannot bear to leave my daughter's memory in a closed library,�?� said Mercer. �??I'm really trying hard not to be bitter and caustic about this.�?� County commissioners decided on the closures after Congress failed to renew the timber payments program that paid the county $23 million a year. Other agencies also will see cutbacks, and several counties with federal timber land are slashing jobs and services. As Mercer packed up her daughter's memorial, two dozen youngsters filed through the door to attend the popular Storytime, the last before closure. Last year 900 kids in the town of about 5,500 signed up for the summer program. �??It's sad that this is being done,�?� said Rose Malone, who brought her 5-year-old grandson, Jarrett. But she said she is reluctant to vote for a three-year levy on May 15 that would give $8.3 million annually to reopen the libraries. �??I don't want to pay any more taxes,�?� she said. �??There seems to be quite a bit of waste in government.�?� She said she doesn't know if that applies to libraries. Mercer said some residents say libraries are unnecessary in the Internet age, but as she spoke, children and adults were using computers funded by grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Teresa Montgomery, interim director of SOU's Hannon library in Ashland, said it would remain open to the public, although people wishing to check out books would have to buy a �??Friends of the Library�?� card, at $35 for a year's privileges. �??But we are an academic library and we don't have the same materials as the county libraries,�?� she said, citing children's services as an example. She said SOU student needs such as computer access would have to come first. Passage of the May 15 levy requires a �??double majority�?� in which at least half of the registered voters must turn out and half or more of those must approve it, a requirement that has scuttled many tax proposals in recent years. In Ashland, a �??Mad Tea Party�?� was planned on the library lawn. Patrons were encouraged to wear costumes, drink tea and read. A ceremony was planned to lower the flag and turn off the lights. In Talent, costumed book characters planned appearances holding signs asking support for the levy. Patrons could sign a large card reading, �??Too bad you're closing. Reopen soon.�?� County Commissioner C.W. Smith said the county checked with State Librarian Jim Scheppke, who said Oregon law forbids public libraries to charge for cards and still get public money. The library system had been getting $8 million a year from the county. To raise that amount, each of the 40,000 cardholders would have to be willing to pay $200 a year. The U.S. Senate has authorized a plan to continue the payments through 2011, but it is attached to an emergency spending bill for Iraq and Afghanistan. President Bush has vowed to veto it because it contains a timeline for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. The timber law expired last year. Efforts to reauthorize it have been frustrated by budget constraints and concerns that Oregon gets too much money under the current formula. Because more than half of the state's land is federally owned, Oregon got more than half the money distributed nationally last year. Under the Senate plan Oregon's share would decrease gradually to a total 28 percent of the overall program in 2011. Saturday, April 7, 2007 10:19 AM PDT

easywriter58 Online E-mail this user Add to Readers 08/07/2007	I would email CNN News and ask them to cover this story. And-send a letter to Laura Bush who was a Librarian for X amount of years to stop this. Go straight to the top!

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