Now that The New York Times has picked up the story the odds have increased that this nightmare is closer to ending. The exposure can do nothing but help the cause.William Yardley's piece Timber (and Its Revenues) Decline and Libraries Suffer addresses the ongoing tragedy in this Southern Oregon County which closed all 15 of its libraries due to lack of government funding back in early April.On May 15th residents of the county head to the poles to raise their property taxes so they can reopen the libraries. A similar measure last November was rejected by the voters and "experts...
The Dark Ages Officially Return to Jackson County
"China has libraries. Third-world countries have libraries. Prisons have libraries...Now we don't have libraries." Joe Henry of Medford, Oregon.Welcome to day 1 of:The Jackson County Tragedy: A community without a library.As promised, on April 7th, the Jackson County Library system in Southern Oregon has shut down its entire library system.The "15 branches will remain shuttered indefinitely because of a budget shortfall, the largest such shutdown in the nation's history."What if you still have a book checked out? "The fines will continue to accrue at 20 cents per day per item...If someone gets too many fines, we will turn them over...
Southern Oregon County to Shut Down Entire Library System
In what seems like a surreal event the entire library system of Jackson County, Oregon is on the brink of closure. Their funding runs out April 7th and if nothing is done between now and then it will be the largest library closure in U.S. history. "I wish we could call FEMA; this feels like a natural disaster to me" says the county's interim library director Ted Stark.The 15 libraries that serve this rural community have lost $7 million in federal funding this year or nearly 80 percent of the system's budget and the Jackson County residents voted down a...