We had a great event at the Jamaica Plain Wake Up the Earth Festival and signed up over 100 new supporters. It is a great sign that people recognize that their services are being cut, even if their branch is staying open, and that everyone is vulnerable again in the next budget cycle. A source told me that the library is already scouting out the 4 branches to close next and is paring down the book collection to reduce the number of books to 80% capacity.

What we are working on:
Coordinating handing out information at MBTA stations, the Central Library, and Red Sox games. If you are available to help for just one hour, please write to peopleofboston@gmail.com. For the MBTA, it would be during morning or afternoon rush hour. For Central, it would be on the weekend. For Red Sox games, it would be before the May 27 - June 2 games.

Releasing a health impact statement signed by distinguished Boston-area doctors and researchers. If you know of any researchers of public health, psychiatry, social medicine, social development, poverty, or urban studies who might be interested in signing on, have them get in touch with peopleofboston@gmail.com

Meanwhile, there have been some positive developments:
First, the Massachusetts House of Representatives successfully attached budget amendments to their budget that conditions all state funding on keeping all branches open.

Further, for the city to receive it's share of Public Aid to Libraries and state racing revenue, library branches must stay open and central staffing levels must remain the same.

These amendments are controversial, but the Public Aid to Library statute, already mandates a 2.5% increase in a city's appropriation to the library in order to receive this portion. The city does not have to increase funding in this way because a city can petition for a waiver by claiming financial hardship. The city has done this the past two years while cutting funding to the library that takes its funding back to FY00.

These amendments recognize that the current city budget does not represent the will of the citizens of Boston and does not serve them or the state of Massachusetts well. State funding should always be contingent on good stewardship and a democratic process for the allocation of these resources; this amendment makes that contingency explicit for this year and recognizes that the city has failed thus far.

Obviously the state is also cutting funding quite a bit, but there also has been no advocacy for the library at the state level for increased funding. There were many budget amendments to increase funding to the library, but the library did not lobby for them. When representatives specifically asked Pres. Ryan how much money she needed, she did not name a figure for them. She did not take the opportunity to lobby for funding at her meeting with the Boston delegation earlier this year. The earmark that the library has missed so much is not going to come back on its own, it must be fought for.

These amendments must now be incorporated into the Senate's budget. Please call your senator and ask him or her to support these amendments in the Senate budget.

Second, city councillors are working with the mayor to stall this plan for one year: http://www.dotnews.com/litdrop/2010/council-pressing-delay-library-....

Please call your city councillor, Mark Ciommo (chairman of Ways & Means), and the at-large councillors and ask them to keep pressing the mayor to delay these closures. Also tell them that you are against subsidizing private development projects, such as the convention center hotel, while our public resources are being stripped away. These projects do not deliver on their promises: http://americancity.org/magazine/article/unconventional-thinking/

We hope that these developments will bring action from the city and more library resources to the people of Boston, but until this is set in stone we will keep our eye on the June 3rd Budget Hearing.

Here are Upcoming Advocacy Opportunities for the Library:
Remaining Mayor's Coffee Hours
Monday, May 10 Ringgold Street Play Area -Ringgold, Waltham and Hanson Streets, South End
Tuesday, May 11 Martin Playground - Myrtlebank and Hilltop Streets, Dorchester
Wednesday, May 12 Christopher Columbus Park - Atlantic Avenue, North End (Rain or Shine)
Thursday, May 13 Clarendon Street Tot Lot - Clarendon Street and Commonwealth Avenue, Back Bay
Friday, May 14 Hynes Playground - VFW Parkway, West Roxbury

**Note, the canceled coffee hour for the Jamaica Plain neighborhood will NOT be rescheduled

These events are great opportunities to let the mayor know that this is a citywide issue. For the first 3 locations, there is a nearby branch that is either slated for closure this year, or could be endangered next year. It is not too early to tell the mayor "don't even think about it" for next year.

For the Back Bay location, this is a great location for everyone to attend and tell the mayor that you oppose the cuts to the central workers and services, which represent 2/3 of the service cuts and 70 neighbors who may lose their jobs.

For the West Roxbury location, we know that there are a ton of strong library supporters in West Roxbury and that they care about the whole system and the services that they will lose from the central branch. Tell the mayor that you want to keep your services and see the library system strengthened, not weakened.

May 11, Tuesday, 8:00 A.M. - Trustee's Annual Meeting - Rabb Lecture Hall

May 12, Wednesday - Meeting in Brighton about the Presentation School Foundation community center. http://www.psf-inc.org/

May 15, Saturday - Outreach at "A People's Celebration of Howard Zinn!" - 2:00pm-4:00pm - Old South Church, Copley Square - 645 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116

June 3, Thursday - Library Support Rally - 5:00 P.M. - 6:00 P.M. - Location City Hall

June 3, Thursday - Library Budget Hearing - 6:00 P.M. - ? - City Hall

In closing, here are the councillors you should be contacting:
Ways & Means Chairman Mark Ciommo (Mark.Ciommo@cityofboston.gov)
John Connolly (John.R.Connolly@cityofboston.gov)
Ayanna Pressley (Ayanna.Pressley@cityofboston.gov)
Felix Arroyo (Felix.Arroyo@cityofboston.gov)
Stephen Murphy (Stephen.Murphy@cityofboston.gov)
Your district councillor

And the 13 representatives who supported the budget amendment:
Linda Dorcena Forry
Michael Moran
Carlo Basile
Brian Wallace
Willie Mae Allen
Gloria Fox
Kevin Honan
Liz Malia
Aaron Michlewitz
Byron Rushing
Jeffrey Sanchez
Marty Walz