Dear Councilperson,

As a life long (insert city here), I request that you join your constituents in solidarity to protect our libraries. We are both proud of and well served by our libraries and I ask that you help us in defending them. I’m sure your aware that the latest draft of Ted Strickland’s state budget includes halving the state contribution to libraries. This threatens our local libraries with closure.

At a time of rising unemployment we must defend these libraries where patrons use the internet to search for jobs, the free access to newspapers to skim the classifieds, and the wide assortment of technical manuals to learn new and marketable job skills. Libraries are also important to students during a recession because they use the library for summer reading materials, computer access for typing papers, and many programs that encourage personal development. Spending time at the library was one of my favorite childhood experiences, an experience that may be denied to the next generation of children if funding is not restored.

Please join us by sending a message to our state legislators and to the governor asking that they reconsider the drastic cuts to library funding in Ohio.

http://www.senate.state.oh.us/senators/index.html
http://www.house.state.oh.us/
http://governor.ohio.gov/Contact/tabid/153/Default.aspx

Additionally, I request that the City Council adopt a resolution supporting our libraries and take a follow-up trip to Columbus to express this support.

Respectfully,
(insert name here)
(insert city here) Resident