Everyone needs our public libraries!UPDATE - you can read a short article on the event and photo here, including reference to my outrageous comments!
Please join me and authors Caroline Adderson, Carellin Brooks, David Chariandy, Larissa Lai, Stan Persky and moderator Dan Gawthrop at Vancouver Public Library Thursday October 22 at 7:30 p.m. for “Public Libraries – Keep Them Local” – an event supporting adequate funding.
Each person will receive one drink ticket. B.C. beer and wine will be served, in keeping with the local theme.
Please RSVP Mike DePaoli at mike.depaoli@vpl.ca or Alexandra Youngberg at alexandra.youngberg@cupe391.ca as this is a registration required event.
4 comments:
The British call libraries "the peoples' universities" - and for good reason, as they are where all citizens can engage in the informal learning that enrichs their personal and community's life.
Cuts to libraries are part of a wider pattern of recent cuts to literacy capacity in B.C, including:
- eliminating "Books for Babies" programs offered through libraries
- eliminating grants to Reading Centres chiefly located in rural areas
- elimination of funding for all 16 Regional Literacy Coordinators
- major cuts to Literacy BC's Directory and Read Line: two electronic tools for British Columbians who need help finding the right program for their needs.
The 2006 report of the legislative cmtee on adult literacy said that 1million adults of workforce age lacked literacy and numeracy skills "adequate for participating in the knowledge-based economy".
So much for El Gordo's commitment to BC becoming "the most literate jurisdiction in the world" - a fib he told at the SFU Dialogue Centre several years ago.
The social democratic Nordic countries lead the world in adult literacy (see IALS reports 2003,1993) because of their political commitment to well-resourced literacy initiatives.
The Nordic countries promote
equality and social justice and, in practical terms, enable all citizens to participate in and contribute to the economic and social life of their communities.
Hitler went farther when they burned books.
I used to spend many hours in the Law Court Library in Victoria reading up on assorted cases around Indians. Nice staff and I ran into some interesting people. Did the same thing at the Labour board library in Vancouver searching landmark labour cases. A lot of stuff is now on line but nothing beats a paper copy of something. I am lucky to be married to a Librarian and she steered mt to places for information that on my own I would never find. A lot of stuff will not likely to end up on line. Gordo seems to want to dumb down the masses. He must be stopped
So....
Just how many libraries, exactly, could we keep open for, say, oh I dunno, $458 million?
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Free public lending libraries are a cornerstone of democracy, 'nuff said!
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