Today's news is just more of the same blind stupidity steeped in a fetid arrogance.
ALL STATE FUNDING FOR PUBLIC LIBRARIES IS ELIMINATEDFlorida Library Association
May 1, 2009Florida Library Association asks Floridians to voice their opposition TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (MAY 1, 2009) – On April 30, an appropriations conference committee
for the House and Senate agreed to eliminate all funding for Florida’s State Aid to Public
Libraries program. This devastating action will result in some Florida library branches closing
and will seriously cripple libraries’ ability to serve Floridians. It will be especially damaging to
libraries in Florida’s rural communities, as these libraries rely heavily on provisions in the
program that help communities with lower tax bases.
The Florida Library Association (FLA) is calling on Governor Charlie Crist to use his influence
and ask legislative leaders to find a way to fund this critical program, which has helped support
public library service to Floridians since 1962.
FLA also calls on Floridians to contact their local representatives to ask them to fund Florida’s
State Aid to Public Libraries program so that libraries do not have to close branches around the
state. Use the “Find Your Legislators” box at www.flsenate.gov to find your local representatives
and their contact information.
In these rough economic times, Floridians need their libraries more than ever. Libraries help
citizens with job searches, in obtaining e-Government services, and in teaching our young
children to read. They also help parents and caregivers learn to be their child’s first teacher, and
provide books, other print materials, DVDs and CDs.
Visit www.flalib.org or call 386-438-5795 for more information.
Jeb Bush, the self-proclaimed *education governor*, has been gutting education in Florida since 1998.
Jeb Bush Vetos Florida Library FundsMay 29, 2006
..... "The Tallahassee Democrat reports, "Public libraries cut for sixth year." It defies understanding why Mr. Bush, who is admirably called "the education governor," has vetoed a $2.2 million appropriation for Florida public libraries. ..."In an apparent time of plenty, it is unfortunate that libraries were such an easy place to go to trim what is now the largest state budget in Florida history: $73.9 billion. The $2.2 million is a drop in the bucket; another drop was the $1.8 million eliminated for online tutoring services through public libraries.""
Gov. Jeb Bush Vetoes Florida Library AppropriationsAmerican Library AssociationMay 26, 2006
As part of an unprecedented $448.7-million line-item veto of state funding, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush slashed a total of $5.8 million in grants to public libraries, pilot projects for library homework help and web-based high-school texts, and funding for a joint-use library in Tampa. Bush, whose term runs out in January 2007, said as he signed the $73.9-billion state budget May 25 that he was pleased to leave the state with a $6.4-billion reserve cushion against hard times, the Tallahassee Democrat reported May 26.
The biggest library cut was $2.2 million in supplemental library grants for 2006–2007, to be used for library books, materials, supplies, and services. According to the Florida Library Association, the appropriation would have helped make up for inflation and the cost of serving millions of new residents.
“We do not understand why the Governor would veto funding for Florida’s public libraries,” said FLA President Sol Hirsch. “Libraries work hard to support the Governor’s priorities, state agencies, and programs. We had no indication from the Governor’s Office that there were problems all session and frankly we were surprised.”
Bush cut $1.8 million for a statewide pilot project to provide one-on-one tutoring to school-age children in any subject area through an internet connection using library computers; $800,000 for a web-based library pilot project to provide electronic texts for high school students; and $1 million for a joint-use library serving students of the Hillsborough County school system and patrons of the Tampa–Hillsborough County Public Library System.
In his veto message, Bush said he singled out projects that he felt slipped into the budget without proper legislative review, didn’t serve a statewide interest, or “are more appropriately funded from private organizations and charities or local governments rather than by state funds.” Besides libraries, funding for hospitals, trauma centers, nursing homes, and jail-intervention programs also took major hits.
Sen. Nan Rich (D-Sunrise) said the Republican-controlled legislature had already skimped on social services in its budget proposal. “These values are not my values,” Rich said in the May 26 Miami Herald. “My values seek to help the people who are the most vulnerable. I wouldn’t cut disease-research programs, jail diversion, or library programs.”
Gov. Jeb Bush Set on Breaking Up Florida State LibraryAmerican Library Association
March 3, 2003
Florida Lieutenant Governor Frank Brogan announced February 25 that the State Library of Florida’s circulating collection—consisting of more than 354,800 books, periodicals, and audiovisual materials—will be transferred to Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale. The move, expected to be complete by early fall, is intended to save the state $10.2 million over the next four years by eliminating 41 library positions and other costs.
Gov. Jeb Bush called the deal “a really important example of a public-private partnership,” the Tallahassee Democrat reported February 26. The NSU library is a joint-use facility, shared by university faculty and students and registered borrowers of the Broward County Division of Libraries. Bush added that those who don’t agree “have a very static way of looking at things” and “can’t see beyond the horizon.”
However, the announcement did little to dissuade widespread criticism of Bush’s plan to break up the state library. Nova will receive $5 million in state funds over the next four years to move and maintain the collection, an arrangement that wasn’t made in an earlier proposal to Florida State University. “That’s a good deal,” said former FSU dean and ex–State Library Director William Summers facetiously. “The state’s paying them $50 a book to give them books the state already owns.”
Bush has since backed down on a broader plan to transfer the library’s prized Florida Collection and the state archives to the Department of Environmental Protection, according to the February 26 Orlando Sentinel.
Meanwhile, a coalition of librarians, archivists, and historians has banded together to seek a court injunction against the move and challenge the governor’s authority to give away public property. Pam Cooper, an organizer of the group and genealogy librarian at the Indian River County Main Library in Vero Beach, has planned a demonstration at the state library in Tallahassee March 4, when she hopes about 250 like-minded people will be able to link arms around the building.
Anger meets Bush plan to relocate books
By STEVE BOUSQUET
St. Petersburg Times
February 26, 2003
TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Jeb Bush wants to give 350,000 books in the state library to Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, a private school with a big new library and a yearning for prestige.
Bush says the transfer will save money and allow millions of people in South Florida to enjoy a little-used collection. But librarians and historians, who have mobilized to stop one of Bush's most controversial budget-cutting moves, are angry. They say the library is a public resource that should never be given to a private university.
The state signed a deal with Nova on Tuesday, but the Legislature needs to approve Bush's plan to pay Nova $5-million over four years to take the 80-year-old collection of books, journals, microfilm, videos and government records. Bush said the state would save $10.2-million over four years, mostly by eliminating 41 state jobs.
"When you see the access this will provide for Floridians, and compare it to what we have now, I think people should give us credit for being creative and solving a problem at a lower cost," Bush said. "Sometimes, you've got to create a little bit of crisis to have an end result, and we found one."
Bush originally proposed moving the books, used mostly by state employees and academics, to Florida State University as a way to save money in a tight budget year. But FSU rejected the offer because the governor did not include any money.
The state on Tuesday signed a six-page contract transferring "title, ownership and possession" of the books to Nova, "thereby lessening the burdens of government." Two other parts of the library division, state archives and state records management, will remain in Tallahassee.
William Summers, a retired dean of Florida State University's library school and a former American Library Association president, said giving the library books to Nova would be a big mistake.
"It's a collection that was built to serve the needs of state government. What's it going to do in Broward County?" Summers said. "It's not a collection that serves students in an academic institution. It's not a collection that serves the general public."
For weeks, Bush has been getting angry e-mails and letters from library lovers, some of whom said moving the library makes no sense because Bush has emphasized the importance of reading.
The criticism showed no sign of letup Tuesday.
"It's putting public material in a private university, and Nova Southeastern does not have the greatest reputation as an academic institution," said Nick Wynne of Brevard County, the executive director of the Florida Historical Society.
Bush showed a flash of anger Tuesday, saying he was offended by critics who accuse him of lacking sensitivity to Florida history. He cited the prospect of war with Iraq in defending the library proposal.
"In these tough, tough, challenging times, where our country is possibly going to war," Bush said, "I would hope that all of the constituencies would join us in finding new approaches to solving problems and to deal with very important services to the state."
.....
This is your brain on Jeb Bush educational policy. It's his most beloved priority, you see.
And as we near the close of the spring legislative session in Florida, an update:
Florida Republican Legislature leaves a record of failure
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