Due to budget shortfalls, all 15 branches of the Jackson County (OR) libraries closed indefinitely on April 7th, the largest library shutdown in the nation’s history. It is a very sad day for county residents, although they have hope it is only temporary. A May 15th bond measure, if it passes, will re-open the libraries.
Main story from the Mail Tribune
Additional stories:
‘Heavens cry’ as Eagle Point padlocks library
Ashland children stage library sit-in
Shady Cove library staff, patrons say goodbye
Jackson Libraries
My first comment at LISNEws. I hope I’m doing this correctly. Like everyone else, I’m depressed by the closure of the Jackson County Libraries. I live in Oregon, a state in a constant state of acute budgetary stress. Trying to find entry level library jobs in Oregon is almost a joke (though a few announcements appear here and there). Oregon’s public services feel to me like a microcosm of the United States’s: ignored, underfunded, and increasingly absent to the point of causing real damage in people’s routine lives. Let’s hope Jackson Co. gets its funding soon at any rate.
closures
Didn’t think I was the emotional type when it came to work stuff, but the story of the kids sit-in really got to me.