| Friday Follow-up: a message from Brian M. Hildreth, STLS Executive Director |
Advocates Applying Much Needed Pressure
The Email Campaign is on! Please click here to send an email to our state representatives about reversing the governor’s cut to library aid and increasing support to STLS member libraries. “Keep writing and calling the governor. His staff reports on those (libraries) voicing concerns.” – Senator Catharine Young
“The Governor and his team react and develop decisions based on what they see and read in the media.” – Assemblyman Christopher Friend
These are some ideas our state representatives shared regarding library advocacy. Everyone we spoke to this past week has equal concerns specific to the governor’s 4.3% reduction in library aid.
As stated in STLS’ letter to the editor, our libraries stand to lose $191,760. Thank you to everyone who has responded, shared and reacted to this important message. It was picked-up by 8 newspapers across the region. (Please keep sharing via social media.) Libraries are a Worthy Investment (STLS’ recent editorial) Additionally, I want to thank our members from across the five-county region. 30 people registered to attend local meetings with our representatives, and despite significant snow fall on both days, 19 advocates made the journey. The following members and communities were represented:
Candy Wilson (Savona), Roxanna Miller(Savona), Betsy Gorman (STLS), Pauline Emery (Corning), Mary Ann Thomas (Corning), Ron Shaw (CCLD), Phil Trautman (Cohocton), Pat Etter (Hammondsport), Joann Sheehan (Bath, Carol Berry (Bath), Pat Selwood (STLS), Margo Gustina (STLS), Leah Weber (Cuba), Tina Dalton (Cuba), Twila Barr (Cuba), David Haggstrom (Angelica) and Nic Gunning (Wellsville).
Our phone campaign was successful! Nearly 100 members reached-out to either the governor’s office or our senate and assembly representatives. The effort is not over! We still need to attend Advocacy Day in Albany on March 1st. To date we have 12 registered attendees and counting! You can register for this day-long journey by visiting our website, completing a print registration form(and sending via STLS Delivery), or by contacting Ella Chatlani at chatlanie@stls.org. I genuinely enjoy advocating for Southern Tier public libraries. However, I also want to write about other exciting and important matters. I promise information about advocacy will dwindle down in the coming weeks, which will allow me to talk more about our amazing libraries. But this funding is too important to our membership and our communities. So I thank you for bearing with me and supporting our efforts.
Next week, I will shed light on the successful social media campaigns generated by our membership. Real People Real Dollars has taken-off, and is getting some attention via member library Facebook pages. Plenty of pictures will be included.
In the meantime, thank you for all that you do. It is a true privilege to serve our membership.
Kindest Regards, Brian Hildreth, Executive Director Read past Friday Follow-ups: http://www.stls.org/blog Follow me on Twitter: @comlibpartner |
