Monday, April 12, 2010

Will Indianapolis Rally for Its Libraries?

Central Library (Photo source:  Wikipedia)

Link to April 10 IndyStar article, "Cities push back against library closings: Will patrons here take a cue from those in other states and fight back?"

Excerpt:  In suburban Cleveland, people voted to raise property taxes to help fund libraries. In Cincinnati, voters approved a new library tax instead of closing libraries. And in Pittsburgh, residents rallied, wrote council members and successfully pushed the city to find the money to keep open libraries it threatened to close.

Across the nation -- as a sour economy straps government funding -- cities are confronting the possibility of library cutbacks and closures.

On Thursday, that reality hit home like the thud of "War and Peace" dropped on a tabletop.

The Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library announced it will consider closing up to six branches -- the result of declining revenues exacerbated by the state's newly enacted property tax caps.

The question now is what, if anything, will people in Indianapolis do about it
?

Related article:
Library considers branch closings.  (4/9/2010)

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