IL Library Funding Cuts

The following text was taken from an email forwarded to me by the Columbia Library Director. Please take a moment to visit the site linked below and voice your concern.

The IL General Assembly cut state grants by 50% (PA 96-0042, Article 20, Section 25). This cut affects public libraries, school libraries and systems funding. The Secretary of State mitigated the cuts with some federal money for this year, but this is only a temporary fix. All of this is happening at a time when Illinois libraries and systems are busier than ever.

Please contact your elected members of the Illinois General Assembly and ask them to not cut us any more and to restore funding when it's available. We've put this into a Pledge and we are asking each legislator to sign it. Currently two LCLS area legislators have signed the pledge: Senator James Claybourne Jr., and Representative Eddie Lee Jackson Sr., both from the East St. Louis area.

Go to this website: www.saveillinoislibraries.com scroll down to the bottom of the background page. Click on the link, "Send the pledge letter." Have 6 e-mail addresses ready so when prompted, you can urge 6 more people to send messages. The process is very easy and it will only take you a few minutes.

Members of the General Assembly are in Springfield now for the Veto Session, but it won't last long. They need to hear from those of us who love libraries while they are there.

Feel free to adapt this message and send to family and friends requesting that they send messages, too. In a campaign of this sort, numbers count.

Thanks for helping with this effort.

Tina Hubert
Executive Director
Lewis & Clark Library System
6725 Goshen Road
Edwardsville, IL 62025