Help Support IMCPL With a Read-In January 24th

Are you tired of seeing quality public resources get the shaft due to budget cuts? Are you worried about the recent vote to permanently cap property taxes at 1 percent, cutting off important sources of funding for public schools, transportation and libraries?

Are you tired of watching city leaders take tens of millions of dollars from Indianapolis tax payers, only to turn around and hand pass that money off to the Pacers so they can pay millionaire athletes?

I sure am.  

I use the Indianapolis Marion County Public Library system a lot. But it’s not just me. There are thousands of people in the city who rely on the library system for basic resources most of us take for granted: things like Internet and e-mail access, or a warm place to sit and read a good book on a cold day. How many families rely on libraries to be there as a safe and affordable place where they kids can spend a summer afternoon? Too many to count.

It’s absolutely despicable that IMCPL is seen as an afterthought when it comes to public funding in this city. Cutting funding to public resources is short-changing the future for thousands of Indianapolis children.

I want to help our city leaders realize just how important the library system is. Thankfully, the Sustainable Library Citizens Coalition, is helping to organize proactive folks looking to do just that.

There’s a two pronged strategy underway. The first is a letter/e-mail writing campaign designed to to encourage City County councilors to ask the State Legislature to pass legislation clearly allowing Marion County to use County Income Tax revenue for library operating expenses.

A resolution failed in December and January’s Council meeting is probably the last chance to get the Council to support the plan. Essentially, this is the only opportunity to persuade the Council to even ask state lawmakers.

State legislators have already said they won’t support new legislation without local support, so it’s vitally important to make your voice heard before the Council meeting.

The Sustainable Library Citizens Coalition is asking concerned citizens to:

Write or e-mail your district councilor as well as the at-large councilors asking them to support a resolution “asking for state legislation that clearly allows Marion County to use COIT funding for library expenses.”

The other part of the plan involves a Read-In at the Council meeting itself:

READ-IN on January 24th at 7 p.m. at the City County Building.  Bring a book and an 8” by 11” sign in support of the Library.  We want to fill up the council room and the halls outside the room with Library supporters from 7-8 p.m.

If you write an e-mail to a district councilor, let The Sustainable Library Citizens Coalition know about it by forwarding a copy to indylibrarycitizenscoalition@gmail.com. 

They’d also like to know if you plan on attending the Read-In. You can RSVP through that e-mail address or through their facebook page here.

Here is the contact info for the entire City County Council. Please take a few minutes to let them know where you stand on this important issue.

Without proactive action in January, the Sustainable Library Citizens Coalition expects to hear the announcement of further cuts in library services coming in May.

Councilors At-Large:
Angel Rivera- riveraforcouncil@gmail.com
Ed Coleman- edward.coleman@gmail.com
Barbara Malone- barbara_malone@sbcglobal.net
Joanne Sanders- jmsanders@msn.com

District: Councilor:
1 Jose Evans- info@evansforindy.com
2 Angela Mansfield- angelamansfield@aol.com
3 Ryan Vaughn- rvaughn@indy.gov
4 Christine Scales- cscales_2000@yahoo.com
5 Virginia Cain- CainforCouncil@aol.com
6 Janice McHenry- jfmchenry@iquest.net
7 Maggie Lewis- mlewis2@indy.gov
8 Monroe Gray Jr.- mgray@indy.gov
9 Jackie Nytes- Jackie@jackienytes.com
10 William Oliver- woliver@indy.gov
11 Paul Bateman Jr.- ccpsbateman@hotmail.com
12 Michael McQuillen- mike@mikemcquillen.com
13 Robert Lutz- rlutz@indy.gov
14 Marilyn Pfisterer- cpfist1061@aol.com
15 Doris Minton- McNeil dmmcneil@indy.gov
16 Brian Mahern- brian@mahern.net
17 Mary Adams- mmadams@iquest.net
18 Vernon Brown- B5307@indy.gov
19 Dane Mahern- dmmahern@hotmail.com
20 Susie Day- susieday20@yahoo.com
21 Benjamin Hunter- bdhunter@sbcglobal.net
22 Bob Cockrum- 317-856-5549
23 Jeff Cardwell- jcardwell@cardwellhomecenter.com
24 Jack Sandlin- jack.sandlin@att.net
25 Aaron Freeman- aaronfreemanlaw@gmail.com