By Mary Sanderson The Friends of the North End Library (FONEL) sponsored a fascinating talk by author and history professor, Vincent Cannato on Wednesday, March 6th at the North End branch of the Boston Public Library. The cold weather did nothing to dampen the spirits of the packed house, with over 50 people enjoying Vincent’s Read More…
Much to the dismay of the Mayor’s Office and BPL Trustees, a group of State Representatives from Boston, including our local 3rd Suffolk District Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, have co-sponsored three amendments in the State budget that would force the City of Boston to keep all the branch libraries open in order to receive $3 million in State funding. While the North End and West End branches survived the City’s proposed budget cuts, four branch libraries remain at risk of closing. (See BPL Trustees Vote to Close 4 Branches; North End/West End Stay Open).
Note: The 12 State Representatives are: Reps. Forry, Moran, Basile, Wallace, Allen, Fox, Honan, Malia, Michlewitz, Rushing, Sanchez and Walz.
Press Release:
Boston State Representatives Mobilize to Save Local Libraries
Twelve State Representatives from the Boston delegation in the Massachusetts State House co-sponsored three amendments that seek to keep all Boston Public Library (BPL) branches open.
“The Trustees of the Boston Public Library and the Mayor of Boston have made clear their budget priorities,” Representative Michael Moran said. “Today, as a united group of legislators from neighborhoods throughout Boston, we are standing together and clearly stating that our priorities are to keep every branch library open.”
The BPL receives over $3 million worth of funding via three separate line items in the state budget. The amendments filed today would add additional language onto each line item, making their allocation contingent upon all 26 local branches remaining open in 2011.
“We had hoped that the Board of Trustees would do the right thing by keeping each branch open,” Representative Carlo Basile said. “Today we are taking steps to make sure that the right thing for our neighborhoods does happen.”
March’s book is Emma Donoghue’s 2016 novel The Wonder, in which an eleven-year-old girl is purported to have gone without eating for months in a mid-19th century Irish village. English nurse Lib Wright is sent over to see if the rumor is true and that the girl is truly subsisting on nothing. Refusing to believe, Read More…
