CALL TO ACTION!
LIBRARIES NEED YOUR HELP!
HAVE YOU CONTACTED YOUR STATE SENATOR
OR ASSEMBLY MEMBER?
It's not too late! Take a few minutes to write a letter and either fax it or mail it to your senator's and/or assembly member's office TODAY! The budget hearings have been held. We need to continue to make ourselves heard. That's where your letters, phone calls and personal meetings with your legislators make a difference.
As you're already aware, Governor Brown has proposed the elimination of all funding in the 2011-12 budget for:
*California Library Services Act (which funds regional systems and Transaction Based Reimbursement (TBR)
*California Library Literacy Services
*Public Library Foundation
These three line items total $30.4 million in the current year budget, and they support absolutely vital statewide efforts, regional coordination, and crucial local programs.
The CLA Legislative and Advocacy Committee will be sending out some information later today about steps you can take, but know that the timeline is extremely short, as the first key date is a February 1 (!) Senate Budget Subcommittee Hearing.
What you can do now:
1. Read the Friday posting from the CLA lobbyists here: http://capwiz.com/ala/ca/issues/alert/?alertid=23460501&type=CU
2. "Like" the Save California Public Library and Literacy Funding Facebook page at http://on.fb.me/saveCAlibs to keep up with what's happening and spread the word to your friends
3. Start writing letters, as suggested in #1. This is not the time to assume that someone else will take care of it. The Subcommittee members need to hear from a huge number of Californians if they are to recommend ANY FUNDING AT ALL for these three critical programs.
Web links and other information about how you can help can be found at:
http://www.plsinfo.org/need-help
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
