For years, the Douglas County commissioners have reduced the budget of the county's 11 libraries, serving 100,000 residents, and they've vowed to zero out its budget next year, so the library's supporters got a ballot initiative to create a Special Library District that would keep the doors open -- naturally, the county has removed all mention of the initiative from its website, using dirty tricks to finish off its dirty work.
The Douglas County Library is on the ballot this November 8th to possibly create a Special Library District to serve the people of their county. The county commissioners there have removed all mention of the library ballot measure from county websites, including information about what it would happen if it passes, and worse yet, how the library would close next year if it doesn’t. This now-missing content is completely neutral, non-partisan information that addressed the plan for creating and funding the new library district. It was based on an independent “Economic Feasibility Study” and was ratified for the ballot by 9 of 11 cities in the county.
The library is on the ballot because the county commissioners have cut the library budget every year for the past few years, and have now promised to cut off all funding for the library next year. These same commissioners had placed the measure on the ballot a few weeks ago to “let the voters decide”, but they are now suppressing voter information about the election. We are not sure why. But we know what this will do: voters won’t know the facts, so rumors, hearsay and misinformation will rule the day.
Don't Suppress Voter Information in Douglas County, OR [Everylibrary]
Reddit user penguinska9 posted that their library “keeps track of how much you save by not buying books and borrowing instead” and shows the dollar amount on the receipt when you check out a book. Genius! I don’t know how common this practice is but the following is from a Wichita Public Library posting from […]
This January, we celebrated the Grand Re-Opening of the Public Domain, as the onerous terms of the hateful Sonny Bono Copyright Act finally developed a leak, putting all works produced in 1923 into the public domain, with more to follow every year -- 1924 goes PD in 2020, and then 1925, etc.
For years, libraries across America have paid to subscribe to lynda.com for online learning content; four years ago, lynda.com became a division of Linkedin, and this year, the company has informed libraries that they're migrating all lynda.com users to Linkedin Learning, which would be fine, except Linkedin only allows you to access Linkedin Learning if […]
Want to keep the dentist away? A little tooth care at morning and night isn’t bad, but it won’t keep the stains from smoking or fried foods at bay for long. If you enjoy your food and want to avoid the consequences, an upgrade from that old analog toothbrush can make a huge difference. Among […]
If your office works at all, it uses Microsoft Office. Those icons for Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook are as familiar around some workplaces as the coffee machine. So familiar, in fact, that they get taken for granted – and rarely used to their full potential. Whether you need a crash course in the essential tools […]
It’s a great time to be a maker. 3D printers are on store shelves for anyone to buy, and coder kits like Arduino and Raspberry Pi are letting kids as young as 9 or 10 dive into the Internet of Things. Here are a few examples of our favorite tech toys, all priced low enough […]
