By Jamie York (@mediagonebad)
On July 13, 2009, the Ohio General Assembly’s budget conference committee agreed on cutting $84.3 million from the Ohio Public Library Fund. While this amount is far less than the $227.3 million Gov. Strickland had wanted, this still should be seen as a setback — not a victory — for a free press in Ohio.
In other words, we should be thankful, but not happy. The budget shortfall will still result in layoffs, branch closures, and cutbacks in services at most public libraries throughout the state. As I have said time and again, libraries are collections of media. While newspapers, magazines, book publishers, and so forth, are owned by corporate conglomerates with agendas of their own, the only agenda of a public library is knowledge. As libraries are forced to cut back services — perhaps even internet access — we are all less free to find that knowledge and learn from it. What good is knowledge if there is no way to find it? What good are shelves full of books, radio tapings, music recordings, and the latest issue of the New York Times if the library is closed?
Thanks to the many thousands of people mobilized in response to Gov. Strickland’s proposed cuts, however, the legislators agreed upon the smaller amount. The impact of untold numbers of telephone calls and letters to our legislators cannot be overstated, nor can the impact of Twitter updates and Facebook postings. And certainly, librarians and supporters across the state who marched in the streets to bring attention to the issue deserve the lion’s share of credit. Yes, we can be thankful for the overwhelming support, but we should not celebrate the outcome or stop the fight. We must continue to fight for Ohio libraries and libraries throughout the nation that are facing similar or worse cutbacks. I will continue to fight for full library funding to be paid for by increased corporate taxes.
“The library connects us with the insight and knowledge, painfully extracted from Nature, of the greatest minds that ever were, with the best teachers, drawn from the entire planet and from all our history, to instruct us without tiring, and to inspire us to make our own contribution to the collective knowledge of the human species. I think the health of our civilization, the depth of our awareness about the underpinnings of our culture and our concern for the future can all be tested by how well we support our libraries.” — Carl Sagan
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Below are my responses to Ohio Governor Ted Strickland’s budget cuts. Free public libraries are perhaps the last bastion of real democracy in the United States and the governor’s budget cuts will be a devastating blow to these centerpieces of the community. This will result in layoffs, closures, cuts in services like internet access, reductions in hours, and so on. Most affected by these cuts will be the poor and under-served. Doesn’t it make more sense to raise taxes for the rich and super-rich who have had the benefit of tax loopholes for far too long. I pay my fair share of my earnings and corporations should too. Sorry about the bubbles in the video; my Puffer fish gets depressed without them! Below, as as way to provide a written record, you will find my homemade video to Gov. Strickland and a complete list of my Twitter updates under #saveohiolibraries.
See Save Ohio Libraries official website: http://saveohiolibraries.com/
LIBRARY TWEETS (From @mediagonebad)
Reading: Brave New World. Ohio Gov. Strickland wants to cut library funding by 50 percent. Librarians are marching too! #saveohiolibraries
Hey @Ted_Strickland Maybe you better raise taxes on corporations, which benefit from too many loopholes. #saveohiolibraries
Hey @Ted_Strickland Don’t cut services to the poor, unemployed & under-served who depend upon free library computers. #saveohiolibraries
Constituents of @Ted_Strickland will not tolerate more job losses, cuts in education & social services. Raise corp taxes. #saveohiolibraries
This will never be a civilized country until we expend more money for books than we do for chewing gum. – Elbert Hubbard #saveohiolibraries
The walls of books around him formed a kind of insulation against the present world and its disasters – Ross MacDonald #saveohiolibraries
Nothing sickens me more than the closed door of a library. – Barbara Tuchman #saveohiolibraries
Hey @Ted_Strickland Cutting library funding is akin to censorship because you deny access to poor & underserved VOTERS. #saveohiolibraries
Yes @Ted_Strickland Libraries are the one American institution you shouldn’t rip off. – Barbara Kingsolver #saveohiolibraries
@Ted_Strickland There is not such a cradle of democracy upon the earth as the Free Public Library – Andrew Carnegie #saveohiolibraries
@Ted_Strickland A university is just a group of buildings gathered around a library – Shelby Foote #saveohiolibraries
Librarian is a service occupation. Gas station attendant of the mind – Richard Powers #saveohiolibraries
I have a real soft spot in my heart for librarians and people who care about books. Ann Richards, former Gov. of Texas #saveohiolibraries
It’s an essential fight librarians are making. It’s a fight for our country’s founding values – Jim Hightower #saveohiolibraries
My alma mater was books, a good library – Malcolm X #saveohiolibraries
@Ted_Strickland The free access to information is not a privilege, but a necessity for any free society – Ed Asner #saveohiolibraries
Getting my library card was like citizenship; it was like American citizenship – Oprah Winfrey #saveohiolibraries
The public library is a great equalizer – Musician Keith Richards #saveohiolibraries
When I was young, we couldn’t afford much. But, my library card was my key to the world – Actor John Goodman #saveohiolibraries
The library (in the migrant community) I grew up in was my only link to the outside world – Playwright Luis Valdez #saveohiolibraries
As a teenager, I got a book on how to write jokes at the library and that, in turn, launched my comedy career -Drew Carey #saveohiolibraries
Whatever the cost of our libraries, the price is cheap compared to that of an ignorant nation – Walter Cronkite #saveohiolibraries
Saturday morning in Ohio Gov. Strickland’s world. Feel like going to the library today? Better hurry; it may be closing. #saveohiolibraries
Blog: The Library is now closed. http://bit.ly/KFD9r
To @Ted_Strickland A library is democracy’s centerpiece. Voters know this – and you should too. #saveohiolibraries
To @Ted_Strickland A library, as John Goodman says, is a “key to the world.” Yes, voters know. http://bit.ly/uCjYI #saveohiolibraries
Tweeple, time is running out to #saveohiolibraries http://bit.ly/kjTrC If you believe that libraries are majestic places, then act now.
Yellow Springs News http://bit.ly/dqqNC Howl at the waxing crescent moon later, reporters and editors, and help #saveohiolibraries
I would not have a master’s degree if it were not for the summer reading program at the Chillicothe Public Library. #saveohiolibraries
Libraries store the energy that fuels the imagination. They open up windows to the world… – Sidney Sheldon #saveohiolibraries
To @Ted_Strickland A library is an information provider, a collection of media, a vital part of a FREE PRESS. #saveohiolibraries
To @Ted_Strickland A library is a place to gather knowledge and information – the foundation of citizenship. #saveohiolibraries
Much of our “free press” is owned by huge corporations w/their own agendas. The only agenda of a library is knowledge. #saveohiolibraries
A library is a collection of media where one may freely seek knowledge (albeit under the purview of the Patriot Act) #saveohiolibraries
If you do not have equal access to information, then do you really have a free press? A 1st Amendment? #saveohiolibraries
@Ted_Strickland Without equal access to information, do we really have a free press? Libraries ARE access. #saveohiolibraries
Life, liberty, pursuit of happiness= #singlepayer Freedom of speech/press= #saveohiolibraries Seems our elected officials letting us down
To @Ted_Strickland Remember the people, the kids, waitresses, clerks, drivers & laborers who rely on library services #saveohiolibraries
It’s true that poor get poorer & rich get richer. Ohio governor’s budget proposal is proof. Change we need is #saveohiolibraries
Good writers must first become good readers. Find a good book at your public library. But hurry, it may close. #saveohiolibraries
Governor #FAIL Ohio gov @Ted_Strickland wants to cut library funding 50%, forcing cutbacks, closures. Please #saveohiolibraries
Ray Pryor, Ohio 85th, says “I assure you that we are doing all we can” to #saveohiolibraries (That means keep the pressure on)
petition @Ted_Strickland to Raise revenues in a fair & progressive manner. http://act.ly/3k RT to sign #Ohio #Budget #saveohiolibraries
I live in rural southern Ohio and contacted @Ted_Strickland to #saveohiolibraries You can too! http://bit.ly/OqmFI
If the State of Ohio does not #saveohiolibraries with full funding, it is saying it does not care much about a free press.
Good Morning @Ted_Strickland Wakie, wakie! It’s time to #saveohiolibraries
Hey @Ted_Strickland a free press does not exist if information is unavailable. Keep Ohio libraries fully funded! #saveohiolibraries
Chillicothe Gazette: Chillicothe, Ross library brings in the most mail to #saveohiolibraries http://bit.ly/4Wh3h
It’s 4th and goal if you want to #saveohiolibraries Score a TD by calling your state reps. Or send a video to http://bit.ly/cl3sa
Hey @10TV Check out the video activism to #saveohiolibraries at http://bit.ly/IdPhI Libraries are ESSENTIAL to free speech.
Yes @Ted_Strickland most folks know they have to pay taxes for services but rich can’t get handouts while we beg to #saveohiolibraries
Hey @Ted_Strickland Citizens ARE the government. We decide; you implement. Full funding to #saveohiolibraries
Hey @Ted_Strickland I believe in a free press. You should too. #saveohiolibraries
“The library connects us with the insight and knowledge of the greatest minds that ever were.” – Carl Sagan #saveohiolibraries
Our awareness of our culture & our concern for the future can all be tested by how well we support our libraries -Sagan #saveohiolibraries
The library is not a shrine for the worship of books. It is the delivery room for the birth of ideas – Norman Cousins #saveohiolibraries
“A library contains the diary of the human race.” – George M. Dawson #saveohiolibraries
“The America I love still exists at the front desks of our public libraries.” – Kurt Vonnegut #saveohiolibraries
I’ve been drunk for about a week now, and I thought it might sober me up to sit in a library – The Great Gatsby #saveohiolibraries
Good moooorrrrrrrning @Ted_Strickland Today is a great day to #saveohiolibraries and support a free press. It’s the right thing to do.
Ever wonder why we don’t have money to #saveohiolibraries?The est. cost of 2 wars since 2001 is 875 billion and rising. http://costofwar.com
Happy July 4th @Ted_Strickland The #saveohiolibraries facebook group has 50,000 supporters. Do you want to join?
Libraries-are-collections-of-media. Gov. Strickland’s proposed cuts would force closures, thereby limiting FREE SPEECH #saveohiolibraries
She ate the last piece of #moonfruit, grabbed her coffee and called her state rep. “I’m calling to #saveohiolibraries,” she said.
Hey @Ted_Strickland it’s Monday and time to #saveohiolibraries
Hey @Ted_Strickland the #saveohiolibraries Facebook group is now up to 52,000. Stand up for a free press!
Yes @Ted_Strickland a free press! Libraries are not just shelves, but collections of media — the words, pictures and sounds of humankind!
“They want us to give up another chunk of our tribal land” – Sitting Bull. We’re still in the same fight. Amazing! #saveohiolibraries
I @Ted_Strickland dream of throngs of librarians on my lawn, never-ending calls, emails, letters and tweets. I should #saveohiolibraries
Hey @Ted_Strickland Did you ever read Fahrenheit 451 where firemen start fires to burn books? $$ cuts can do the same #saveohiolibraries
Searching your library for #moonfruit? Better hurry before the bright sparks in OH govt. cut the funding #saveohiolibraries
“Whether the knife falls on the melon or the melon on the knife, the melon suffers” Having surg. on 7/8. Keep fighting to #saveohiolibraries
How much do we spend on all libraries as compared to what we spend on war? A pittance, my friends, a pittance. #saveohiolibraries
The current definitive answer to almost any question can be found within the four walls of most libraries – Arthur Ashe #saveohiolibraries
Those who would cut Ohio’s library funding 50% are the south end of a northbound horse. ✂ the ☁! and #saveohiolibraries
In Fahrenheit 451 @Ted_Strickland firemen go on calls to burn books. Funding cuts have the same effect. #saveohiolibraries
To @Ted_Strickland There is simmering anger from voters & we need a Robin Hood to #saveohiolibraries Your conservative agenda won’t work
A librarian is a community hero @Ted_Strickland This action figure shushes those who won’t #saveohiolibraries. http://www.mcphee.com/laf/
Happy Friday! @Ted_Strickland The #saveohiolibraries FB group has nearly 55,000 members! Lots of voters care!
RT @DispatchAlerts: Governor, legislators agree on budget terms http://tinyurl.com/l3cgp4 /RT #saveohiolibraries
Dear @Ted_Strickland We did it! The #saveohiolibraries FB group hit 55,000 today, a nice-sized city! http://bit.ly/cjk1a
