Library Supporters Urged to Contact Governor, Lawmakers

From Arthur Meyers

The state budget discussions continue, so we ask you to speak up.

Please urge Governor Rell, Lt. Governor Fedele ,and the key lawmakers to SUPPORT library programs and to reject the proposed cuts. Even if you have already contacted the budget negotiators, NOW is the time to contact them again.

Contact the key people below, and let them know that school is out, unemployment is high, and Russell Library is packed like never before.

On one day, this past Wednesday, July 22, in a city of 47,000:

• 1,797 people came into the Library
• 2,025 books and other materials were checked out
• 134 children participated in crafts programs in the morning
• 180 children attended the storytelling program in the evening
• 227 adults used the public computers
• 70 questions were asked in Information Services
• 8 adults attended the evening computer class on Microsoft Word

Ask them: "Please reject cuts to our library programs!"

Here's the list:
--Governor Jodi Rell: governor.rell@ct.gov
--Lt. Governor Mike Fedele: LTGovernor.Fedele@ct.gov
--OPM Secretary Robert Genuario: Robert.genuario@ct.gov
--House Speaker Christopher Donovan: Christopher.donovan@cga.ct.gov
--House Majority Leader Denise Merrill: denise.merrill@cga.ct.gov
--House Republican Leader Larry Cafero: Lawrence.cafero@housegop.ct.gov
--Senate President Don Williams: Williams@senatedems@cga.ct.gov
--Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney: looney@senatedems.ct.gov
--Senate Republican Leader John McKinney: john.mckinney@cga.ct.gov
--House Appropriations Committee Chair John Geragosian: john.geragosian@cga.ct.gov
--Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Toni Harp: harp@senatedems.ct.gov
--House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Craig Miner: craig.miner@housegop.ct.gov
--Senate Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Dan Debicella: dan.debicella@cga.ct.gov

For What It's Worth

This from the July 1 edition of Writer's Almanac with additional material from www.librarycompany.org:

It was on this day in 1731 that Ben Franklin founded the first circulating library, a forerunner to the now ubiquitous free public library. He started it as a way to help settle intellectual arguments among his group of Philadelphia friends, the Junto, a group of civic-minded individuals gathered together to discuss the important issues of their day.

Each of the 50 charter members bought an initial share into the company (40 shillings), which helped fund the buying of books, and then paid a smaller yearly fee (10 shillings) that went to buying more books and maintaining the library. In exchange, the members could borrow any of the books. Donations of books were gladly accepted.

They called their charter the Library Company of Philadelphia, and the next year, Franklin hired America's first librarian, Louis Timothee. At first, the books were stored at the librarian's house, but by the end of the decade, they were moved to the Pennsylvania State House, which is now known as Independence Hall.

The collections grew with the nation and reflect the country’s many faces and varied interests. From the Revolutionary War to 1800, when the national government was in Philadelphia, the Library Company also served as the Library of Congress. Until the 1850s it was the largest public library in America. All of the books the Library Company acquired year by year over more than two and a half centuries are still on its shelves, along with many others added since it was transformed into a research library in the 1950s. In the 21st century, the Library Company serves as a resource for a variety of readers, from high school students to senior scholars, from novelists to film producers, and anyone else with an interest in our collections.