ALA President Jim Rettig describes Ohio Democratic Governor Ted Strickland's proposed 50% cut to state library funding as an "unprecedented national disaster."
“I encourage all Ohioans to contact the Governor’s office to express their opposition to his proposal to cut library funding and urge Ohio legislators to reject the Governor’s plan,” said Rettig. (See the ALA press release.)
Nationwide, the crisis in library funding has been growing since at least last Fall. But since Playaway is a homegrown Northeast Ohio company, folks here can't help but feel an extra measure of concern now that the problem has caught us where we live. Libraries are our customers of course, but we are library patrons and library supporters too.
Yesterday a group of Playaway employees joined over three hundred demonstrators gathered in Cleveland to protest the proposed budget cuts. You can read about it (and see a short video clip online) in today's Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Across the state, libraries have swiftly mounted a well-organized campaign to warn the public of the consequences of severe cuts and to encourage people to contact representatives to express their concern. Many local libraries and library systems have posted special splash pages on their websites in order to spread the word. (Take a look at the home pages for Cleveland Public, Cuyahoga County Public, Rocky River Public, and Reed Memorial Library in Ravenna, OH.)
Statewide efforts are being coordinated by the Save Ohio Libraries coalition:
