Greetings!

As usual, there's a lot going on this month and your Pasadena Public Library staff is working hard to meet your informational--and recreational--needs through the many services and events we offer. But first, I'd like to ask YOU to help US help YOU.

As you may have heard, the State of Texas is looking at a budget shortfall this year, and whether it's the $15 billion, $23 billion or $27 billion gap you may have heard, it is a very significant sum to address. Public libraries will be at the forefront of those cuts.

Although nothing has been finalized, it is clear discussions are taking place that would envision: 

• Eliminating direct aid grants to libraries through Lone  Star Libraries funding;
• Eliminating all state funding of the TexShare databases;
• Eliminating the K-12 database program; and
• Eliminating a new competitive system grant program just authorized in the last session of the legislature.

This would mean a 99% decrease in state funding for local library aid programs and a 93% cut to library resource sharing, cutting about 70% in state funds, with an overall reduction of about one-third of the state agency's budget. Most of that comes through cuts to local libraries across Texas.

What's important to you is how this would play out at community libraries throughout the state. In a word, many of the promises of moving Texans into the Digital Age will have to be foregone. With unemployment up dramatically in the last three years, libraries are seeing more and more folks using their online services to seek employment and to replace the web access, books and entertainment opportunities that are no longer affordable.

In addition, the extensive databases Texas libraries use were put in place over the past decade or longer to make hard document reference material less necessary; if the databases become unavailable, there are far fewer resources to fall back on.

Enrichment programs for children, money - saving skills for adults, preparation for professional certifications, pure research, life-long learning opportunities--all these will be impacted if such deep cuts go into effect.

What can you do to help maintain these vital resources? Contact your state legislator and share your priorities when it comes to providing library services to our community...they won't know unless you take a few moments to tell them.  

Click on SAVE LIBRARY PROGRAMS to send an email to your legislators. You can customize your message to describe the impact of budget cuts to you. If you would like to contact your legislators directly, click on the following links: Pasadena State Representative Ken Legler or Pasadena State Senator Mike Jackson.

And don't forget to go to www.ppltx.net and complete our four-question survey. We'll take your responses to Austin and make sure your voice is heard.

If you appreciate the vital role that public libraries play in helping inform and enrich our communities, please take a few moments to help us help you. Your support is more than symbolic...it can make a real difference today.

Wayne D. Holt

Interim Library Director, Pasadena Public Library