Sanford trying to gut public libraries and ETV

[GoCubsGo]

From two e-mail alerts I just received:

IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED TO HELP SAVE FUNDING FOR AIKEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARIES

Gov. Sanford’s vetoes on Wednesday to the FY11 State budget include two line items that cut $6.5 million in State funds for libraries and jeopardize the receipt of an additional $2.7 million in Federal LSTA (Library Services and Technology) funds. Effectively, if these vetoes stand, public libraries in South Carolina will receive ZERO dollars from the state.

It’s imperative that you contact the Aiken County members of the House of Representatives immediately to let them know how vital libraries are to their community and ask that the Budget Vetoes 31 and 92 be overturned.

The House is expected to vote on this issue Tuesday, June 15. If the House does not override the vetoes, the Senate will not even consider them.

To find contact information for the House members for your county, visit:

http://www.scstatehouse.gov/countydelegationinfo/cnty02.htm

The fax number for all members of the SC House of Representatives is 803-734-2925

Eliminating state funds for public libraries is a blow to SC's economy. Public libraries provide crucial educational and employment assistance and if this funding goes away, so does our ability to educate and prepare students and the unemployed for the workforce. Public libraries also are havens for recreational reading and lifelong learning for people of all ages and income levels.

Gov. Sanford's veto will affect Aiken County Public Libraries drastically by:

* Eliminating the majority of funds we spend for new books, DVDs, and audiobooks
* Eliminating all the funds we spend on newspaper and magazine subscriptions
* Eliminate the majority of funds we spend to maintain our automation system and other technology expenses vital to the day-to-day operation of the library system.

AND

"Emergency Alert!

Your help is needed now! Contact your legislator before the Tuesday, June 15th vote.

Governor Sanford has proposed a cut of over $5.2 million from South Carolina ETV's $9.6 million state budget appropriation. This is a 52% percent reduction. This would have a devastating impact on ETV and the services provided to public education and to every citizen..."

The rest of the ETV alert at:
http://scetv.convio.net/site/MessageViewer?em_id=6722.0&dlv_id=10222

[raccoon]

1. My local library had a similar alert. Now updated as follows.

State Aid Update

Governor Sanford vetoed State Aid to Public Libraries in his targeted cuts to the current FY2010-11 legislative budget. Greenville County Library System stood to lose $372,024 to purchase library materials and online resources.
The House of Representatives voted to override Veto #31 by a margin of 110-5 on Wednesday, June 16, 2010. The Senate also voted to override Veto#31 by a margin of 41-3 on Thursday, June 17, 2010. The Greenville County Library System would like to thank our patrons for their interest and support concerning this issue.

http://www.greenvillelibrary.org/

[GoCubsGo]

2. They overrode the vetoes for the ETV funding cuts, as well.

Along with stopping cuts for forest fire fighting and the technical colleges. Nice to know that the state legislature is not completely hopeless.