“…let-them-eat-cake-attitude that threatens to destroy a network of public assets” – Scott Turow

CHICAGO -   In the wake of deep library budget cuts taking place in communities across the country, Scott Turow, author of “Presumed Innocent” and its sequel, “Innocent,” and president of the Authors Guild, expressed his views regarding the value of our nation’s libraries in an opinion piece posted today in the Huffington Post. 

Though the efforts of Turow, and the work of the American Library Association’s (ALA) Public Information Office, more than 25 million Huffington Post visitors will have access to Turow’s eloquent comments on the value of our nation’s libraries.  

 “While our economy seems to be slowly staggering back to its feet, state and municipal governments remain hard-hit as the result of lost tax revenues, lost stimulus money and pension fund payments that have grown to monstrous size to make up for the market losses of 2007 and 2008,” stated Turow. “Those governments are cutting everywhere they can, and public libraries nationwide have been one of the biggest and least deserved losers in the process.”

Turow provided recent examples of budget cuts.  “For example, in California, Governor Brown's new proposed budget decreases General Fund assistance for public libraries by $30.4 million, eliminating the California Library Services Act, Public Library Foundation and the California Library Literacy and English Acquisition Services — that is, access, resource sharing and adult literacy,” Turow said. “In Texas, the cuts are even more stark, with the new budget proposing complete elimination of several programs that have either provided direct aid to libraries or irreplaceable programs, like those that created shared databases. Even in my own community, a small city on the northern edge of Chicago where a major university sits, my neighbors and I have been struggling to save a small branch library that was pivotal to the education of many neighborhood kids.”

Turow closes the article with a very clear message of support. “I count myself as one of millions of Americans whose life simply would not be the same without the libraries that supported my learning. We cannot take that opportunity away from so many Americans who need that help urgently now.”

To read the complete opinion piece please visit http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-turow/letthemeatcakeattitude-th_b_823609.html.

Scott Turow is a participant in the American Library Association’s “Our Authors, Our Advocates” initiative.  Through “Our Authors, Our Advocates,” one of ALA President Roberta Stevens’ key presidential initiatives, bestselling authors have provided their support for libraries through media interviews, podcasts and public service announcements.

For more information regarding “Our Authors, Our Advocates” please visit ILoveLibraries.org.

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