Posted for State Librarian, Norma Blake.

TO: Library Staff, Trustees and Friends

FROM: Norma E. Blake, State Librarian

SUBJECT: Budget Talking Points

DATE: March 18, 2010

Here are some talking points you could use to explain to your state representatives by email, by letter or face-to-face why the New Jersey State Library should not be governed by Rutgers University and why stripping all money from the State Library budget that allows us to serve local libraries would be removing critical resources needed to help New Jersey recover faster from the economic downturn. By losing all programs that serve local libraries, New Jersey also loses $4.5 million dollars of annual LSTA money. We hope you will contact NJLA or NJSL if you can get an appointment with your Senators and Assemblypersons or with the Governor\x92s office. We would love to attend any such meetings with you. We recognize that all politics are local and that your representatives want to hear from their local librarians and their constituents. Please combine these talking points with your compelling local stories that will be vividly remembered when it\x92s time for the Senate an d Asse mbly to pass a state budget in June.

Interlibrary loan which will cease on 6/30/2010:

\x93Our library will lose interlibrary loan, including ordering books out-of-state on June 30, so in the future Mr. S will be unable to get those expensive, hard to find books on X.\x94

Databases which will cease on 6/30/2010:

\x93Our library will lose RefUSA, Academic Search Premier, Business Source Premier, all EBSCO databases, Gale Custom Newspapers and Inform\xE9 on June 30, so after that time we will not be able to help the XYZ Business find the accurate, time-embargoed information they need to do their business.\x94

Delivery which will cease on or before 12/31/2010:

\x93Our library will lose interlibrary delivery on or before December 31, so the series that Mrs. G has been getting from X Library will no longer be sent here for her to borrow. We cannot afford to purchase all of the books we currently borrow from other libraries.\x94

JerseyConnect which will cease June 30, 2012:

\x93Our library will lose its website, email hosting and internet connection so local job seekers will not be able to use X. Without JerseyConnect, the State Library cannot accept the $7.5 million dollars of federal stimulus money if awarded by NTIA to give our library computers, training and increased broadband capacity. We will also lose outside technical assistance, and we cannot afford to recreate JerseyConnect\x92s present and planned services.\x94

Statewide Summer Reading which will cease after this summer:

\x93Our library will lose the statewide summer reading program, which gives us prepared programs, graphics, forms and an implementation plan so we don\x92t have to spend our time and money to reinvent the wheel.\x94

Talking Book and Braille Center will cease operations on June 30, 2012:

\x93Our library would lose the Talking Book and Braille Center services (formerly the Library for the Blind and Handicapped) on June 30, 2012, so Mrs. Y will not get free mailings of talking books, adaptive equipment, and access to a radio reading program. We are not equipped to provide these services to our blind customers.\x94

Regional Library Cooperatives will cease operation on or after June 30, 2010, depending on when carry-forward is expended:

\x93Our library would lose regional library services such as group purchasing discounts and continuing education for staff, which we cannot replicate in-house. By working together, we can do more with less.\x94

Other network-funded programs which will cease on June 30, 2010:

\x93Our library will lose technical assistance in many library development areas such as library law, preservation, youth services, pilot programs and e-rate. We will also lose the State Library\x92s grant writers who secured grants like Live Homework Help, Opportunities Online hardware, Librarian Recruitment, NJ Digital Highway, etc.\x94

Losing half of Per Capita State Aid which will happen July 1, 2010:

\x93Our library will lose half of our Per Capita State Aid on October 1, 2010, so we won\x92t have money to pay for X (staff, library materials, etc.)\x94

Merging the State Library with Rutgers University which will happen on July 1, 2010:

\x93Our library will lose a state voice for libraries on library issues and legislation if the State Library is governed by Rutgers University. Under Rutgers, the State Library would be a low priority as the university has many libraries and would have no ability to advocate for all types of libraries.\x94

The following information is a reminder of your current mailing list subscription:

You are subscribed to [list_name] using example@PROTECTED.

You may automatically unsubscribe from this list at any time by visiting the following URL:

http://lists.njstatelib.org/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/u/[list]/

If the above URL is inoperable, make sure that you have copied the entire address. Some mail readers will wrap a long URL and thus break this automatic unsubscribe mechanism.

You may also change your subscription by visiting this list's main screen:

http://lists.njstatelib.org/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/list/[list]

If you're still having trouble, please contact the list owner at:

<mailto:sschatz@PROTECTED>