Governor Rendell Passionate for Libraries

This morning a large crowd of library supporters turned out at the East Shore Area Library in Harrisburg today for a news conference held by Governor Rendell on the topic of library funding in the state budget.

Dauphin County Library System (DCLS) director Rich Bowra and his team from DCLS did a wonderful job putting together the news conference in their very busy and crowded children's area:

• Rich spoke about how state funding is used at the local and district levels, and what the impact would be if the Senate's draconian cuts of 55% were approved.
• Governor Rendell spoke passionately about the importance of education, and how libraries played a critical role as educational and community centers for job hunters and children. He asked that library supporters contact their Senator and ask them to support library funding and the increased revenues needed in order to fund libraries.
• Dr. Pressman, a local pediatrician and DCLS library volunteer, spoke about his experiences and the importance of library services for young children.
• Governor Rendell then took questions from the news media.

To my knowledge, PCN, ABC27, WHP21 and the Governor's own in-house film crew were filming, so look for news footage to air on TV tonight. In addition to TV, news reporters from the AP and Patriot News were present, so stories should also appear there.

Kudos to Dauphin County Library System staff for a job well done!