Full Title:
Losing Our Libraries: Here’s what the Legislature’s proposed budget cuts will really do to our library systemsfrom
The Dallas VoiceIn their rush to close the biennial budget gap — brought about by a barely acknowledged statewide recession and a badly flawed statewide tax policy — the Texas governor and legislature are defunding our future.
No doubt you have read that the lege proposes enormous cuts to K-12 education and higher education. You may not have read that the same lege proposes to totally defund the Texas public library system.
Here’s what that means:
• Texshare Databases will lose $8 million. Texshare is a program through which all of the state’s public libraries, public and private universities, community colleges and libraries of clinical medicine gain access to information on topics from art to Zen.
• K-12 Database will lose $5 million. This statewide program offers thousands of full-text educational resources to students in Texas public schools. Think homework help.
http://www.dallasvoice.com/losing-libraries-1070988.html">Click Here To Read More
The article also mentions a petition to save Texas Libraries, but doesn't link to it. Here is it is for a fast click:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/texas_libraries/">Save Texas Libraries
This is really important. Texas is huge and many don't have any libraries at all. I didn't see my first one until I went to college. I fell in love with that place, it was a breath of fresh air. For a gay kid in a conservative area, a library with a good collection can be an oasis in a hostile desert. It certainly was to me.