Two years ago when we learned out beloved library branch was being considered for closure due to budget cuts, we mobilized. We wrote letters, we made cardboard signs and printed flyers, we stood on the sidewalk and demonstrated, we even went to the county commissioners meeting and I stood up and protested while my kids stood by and looked justifiably mournful.
Our library was saved, but apparently not because of the efforts of hundreds of loyal patrons like ourselves. Our branch was saved because of the remarkable ingenuity of some library administrator. This person came up with an alternative way to reduce the budget in order to keep our branch’s doors open to the public.
Every book or CD or video in the Wake County Library system has a three-inch white sticker on the back so the due date could be stamped on it. This was necessary because certain materials had different due dates, some items could only be checked out for a week, while others could be out for four weeks.
Last week, the stickers were eliminated and every item is now checked out for three weeks. This simple change has freed up enough money in the budget to keep our Southeast Regional Branch open. I wish I could find out whose idea this was. And I wish even more fervently that we had people in congress with half as much sense.
Little changes can really make a difference. I'd vote for your common-sense librarian!
ReplyDeleteHi Beth,
ReplyDeleteI hope this is OK to post a personal note in Comments --
I was just thinking of you the other day: wondering how your writing is going, how the farm is going, whether you published that childrens book you were working on, etc. Just a field day of memory. I very much enjoyed spending some time with you (recalling that trip to that little town for the United Arts Fund meeting, and lunch at your mom's) when I was in the Raleigh area, and I'm very sorry to have lost touch. I've even lost your email address. Shame. So, a little online search, and here you are.
So, perhaps we could correspond. And, I'm down to Raleigh/Chapel Hill fairly regularly; perhaps we could rendezvous for a cup of tea or something.
My news: still in DC. Freelance graphic design, book making, art making, and writing. Self-published a book of poems with a photographer back in February. Now working with a long-time friend, another photographer living in Knightdale (we've known each other since high school) on a yet-to-be-defined project centered on the NC Museum of Art (his images are wonderful).
It would be lovely to hear from you. My email: stvgodwin@gmail.com
blessings,
Steve Godwin