Hello, I am Brandon Abbs, founder of People of Boston Branches and we are working to bring all of the concerned groups together to fight cuts to library funding. We want to save all 104 jobs and all 26 branches because each job is a neighbor and each branch supports a neighborhood. They are all important and the city needs to bring $3.6M out of reserves to support the library while we examine how it is run and make it fitter for the future without cutting our neighbors off from the system.

The following is an e-mail sent out to our supporters:

I just wanted to give people an update on activities surrounding the library last week and what will happen next. Sorry it has been so long, it makes the update kind of long, but make sure to see what's coming up next:

On Wednesday, the trustees meeting was held and the trustees tabled a motion to vote on layoffs, the metrics for rating libraries was elaborated, and the 8 lead libraries were named. In the evening there was a separate meeting organized by the Friends of the South End Library that was well attended. City Councillor Bill Linehan came out in favor of using reserves to save the library this year and to take a year to further investigate the problem the library faces. Councillors Arroyo and Turner have already given support to this idea and gave further support at the meeting. Councillor Connolly expressed his general support at the beginning of the meeting before leaving to take over child care at home. Councillor Pressley attended late and also spoke of her support of the libraries more generally. The next day her office finally answered very old e-mails of mine, so it is good to see two more at-large councillors starting to speak out. Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz has also been responding to e-mails, some of which you have forwarded to me, and I will add them to the webpage. I am developing a page that has the statements of support that I have received.

On Saturday, the library held its first community meeting at the Harborside Community Center in East Boston. There was a great turnout and the crowd there was very unhappy with the speed of the process and the library's communication with the people of Boston about their plans. I think that the library's plan for the meeting had been to gather more information on particular programs and resources that the community values. They handed out a form with questions to this effect and had the questions posted at the front. However, after Pres. Ryan spoke, the public initiated a commenting period and Christine Schonhart ended up going down a sign-in form and having people speak for 3 minutes. So, it was much like the comment period of the trustees meeting, but with East Boston speakers (as well as me and David Viera - President of Citywide Friends). For this particular meeting it was good because East Boston has not been a part of this discussion thus far. The same is true of South Boston/Dorchester to some extent so the next meeting at Codman Square (see below) may also turn into a 1 1/2 hour comment section. However, I would look to a change of format for the Honan-Allston and JP meeting.

On Sunday, the Citywide Friends and People of Boston Branches hosted a march around Copley Square and through the library (at the end). There was a very good, very energetic crowd for the march. We circled in front of the McKim building, with many supporters engaging the cars that sat at the light at Dartmouth & Boylston and people passing through the square. The media also came out, so it was a very successful event in terms of raising awareness and informing the public. It was also great to meet a lot of new supporters.

Overall, the number of supporters is growing. The People of Boston Branches list is growing, lists at other branches are growing, more Friends groups are being activated, and Friends membership is growing. Our main goal over the next two week is to continue to grow our support in preparation for the budget battle that looms in mid-April. We will continue to work with the library, Amy Ryan has called a number of us in on Tuesday, and we will continue to shape the budget that the trustees approve. However, with the last meeting and the fact that there were no trustees at the community meeting in East Boston, their open-mindedness and sincerity seems lacking. There are a couple who seem genuinely on our side, but whether it is enough to get a 0 closures budget through, we will have to see.

In the coming weeks here are things you can do:

Talk to friends, neighbors, co-workers, and strangers about the library cuts and closures, encouraging people to contact their city councillor about the issue and to visit http://peopleofboston.org to get educated. From the blank stares that I got when addressing the people waiting to get inside the Central Library, it is clear that the scope of the problem is not getting out there. Up to 104 people's jobs are at stake, including almost 70 at Copley. This is being billed as a 'transformation' but the library will struggle to provide the same level of services at the administrative and central levels, let alone the branches, if they cut such a large part of their work force. Remember, usage of the library is going up, the books are already piling up behind the scenes, the fund raising and grant getting is dismal, and we're supposed to have a better library system after they cut 104 dedicated workers? It does not make any sense. These workers took concessions so that we could stay in business last year and they deserve our support. When you stop in to your branch, ask them how they're doing, and let them know we're behind them. Also, see the statement at the end of this message.

Keep petitioning. We are going to collect them April 5, so get them to either me or David Viera, President of the Citywide Friends (you can send them ot the Citywide Office at 700 Boylston St). David is going to copy them so that we can give a copy to the trustees and to the city.

Keep growing the Facebook page. The BPL recently celebrated their 2,000th friend and we are right behind them at 1,700 - so please keep inviting people!

Attend the community meetings when you can. They are April 3, 5, & 6 at Codman Square Branch, Honan-Allston Branch, and Curley Middle School. Codman Square is at 2:00 P.M. and the rest are at 6:00 P.M. http://www.bpl.org/budget has more information.

Find out about Friends group activities. The East Boston branch has one on March 29th at 6:30, Charlestown at 6:00, and Roslindale has one on the 31st.

Charlestown also has some other activities that you can help bring a Citywide feel to, including a march on City Hall on Thursday: http://bit.ly/dnNyOF

We will be working with Massachusetts Jobs with Justice to plan for a "Community Stakeholders Meeting" on Wednesday, April 7th from 6:30 P.M. - 8:00 P.M. at The Cathedral of St. Pauls - 138 Tremont St., Boston, MA. We plan to have community, religious, political, and labor activits there to talk about how we can really transform the library.

I will also be working on the website to get more information up, including petitions and flyers for these events.

Thanks to everyone for all their help!! Keep it up, keep in touch, and I will keep you informed!!

To close, here is a letter to the editor sent in by the President of the BPL Professional Staff Association that echoes some of what I say above. The people are opposed, the unions are opposed, the councillors are opposed, what else do we need!? Tell the city to get money out of reserves and let's look at this problem together:

"The proposed closings of neighborhood branch libraries are much in the news recently (Trouble Balancing the Books, Loth and Make Book on These Cuts, Walker, 03/13/10). As librarians at the Boston Public Library and members of the Boston Public Library Professional Staff Association, we are writing to let you know that we join with the library-using public in every Boston neighborhood in our strong objection to the proposed closures of any library branches. We are outraged that in these difficult economic times, when people are losing their homes, jobs, and health benefits, the thought of shuttering these valuable neighborhood institutions was even considered for a moment. We know firsthand how many people depend on our neighborhood libraries for free access to computers, books, movies, newspapers, museum passes, homework help, storyhours, and a safe, welcoming place for the whole family. We are also deeply concerned that the library administration is calling this a "transformation of library service" while proposing to close one-third of our libraries and lay off one-quarter of our workforce, most of whom live in these communities themselves.

We fervently hope that the Boston Public Library Trustees will work with us, the library-using public, and city and state officials to oppose this plan and creatively find a solution without depriving the neighborhoods of these vital public spaces.

Sincerely, Anna Fahey-Flynn, President Boston Public Library Professional Staff Association"