FW: [NYLINE] NYLA Legislative Alert

[Rebekkah Smith Aldrich (MHLS)]

A big thank you to all the MHLS supporters that attended the rally in Albany yesterday. We certainly made a lot of noise!

 

Keep up the pressure, this will be an advocacy effort that spans multiple months. Watch for Legislative Alerts from NYLA, invite your state legislators into your library, and get them on your newsletter mailing lists.

-Rebekkah

 

-----Original Message-----
From: New York's Libraries Information Network [mailto:NYL...@listserv.nysed.gov]On Behalf Of Michael Borges
Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2008 9:45 AM
To: NYL...@listserv.nysed.gov
Subject: [NYLINE] NYLA Legislative Alert

Dear Library Advocate, the Legislative Special Session ended yesterday with no agreement between the Governor and the state Legislature on futher mid-year budget cuts.  NYLA's Library Rally at the Capitol yesterday, which brought 450 library advocates to Albany, showed state policymakers in a very visible, loud and forceful (but law abiding) manner, that the library community would not stand for any further cuts in funding.  

 

I want to thank everyone who came to the Rally and sent letters to the Governor and members of the Legislature, especially those libraries and library systems who sent busloads of advocates to the Capitol, which insured the success of our Rally.

 

Coverage of our Rally and other protests was quite extensive by television (see below) and pictures from the rally can be found on our website at <www.nyla.org>

 

<http://www.cbs6albany.com/video/?bcpid=1137806146&bclid=1143371293&bctid=2551381001>

 

<http://www.13wham.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=202...@video.wokr13.com&navCatId=3937&articleID=202140>

 

<http://capitalnews9.com/content/top_stories/128304/thousands-rally-against-budget-cuts/Default.aspx>

 

If local media in your area also covered the Rally, please send us the link or if you took photos at the Rally, please email them to us for posting on our website.   Special thanks to our new President Josh Cohen and Legislative Committee Chair Kevin Verbesey for serving as emcees of the Rally.

 

The Governor proposes to release his 2009-2010 Executive Budget on December 16th, which will undoubtedly call for additional cuts in Library Aid.  It is also still unclear when the remaining $26 million in undistributed Library Aid from the 2008-09 State Budget will be released.  NYLA will keep you informed of any developments in this ongoing budget saga. 

Advocacy is not a sprint, but a marathon, and we must keep pace with events as they unfold and prepared to take action on a moments notice.

 

Michael J. Borges

Executive Director

New York Library Association

252 Hudson Avenue

Albany, New York 12210

(518) 432-6952, ext. 101

(518) 427-1697 Fax

dire...@nyla.org

 

 

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