[Mpls] Smart for Library Board: Cyber Campaign

[smartlibraries2005 at earthlink.net]

Samantha Smart for Minneapolis Library Board
Cyber-Campaign
please forward widely!


Open Libraries are a matter of social justice!

I believe that libraries must be fully funded and open seven days a week and that no community library should be closed in order to accommodate "the bottom line".  In fact, fully funded libraries should be at the top of any city's priority list, along with affordable housing for all residents and the elimination of homelessness, living wage jobs, comprehensive social services including education and health, and a sustainable economy.  

I have not heard any other candidate for this position mention the word "justice".  

We live in a world of injustice and violence, and we live in a city where genocide against Indigenous First Nations peoples happens every day, where white supremacy and racism poison the lives of all residents of color, where rape, sexual abuse and domestic violence destroy women and girls every few seconds, where thousands are homeless and hundreds of youth have to prostitute themselves for a place to stay at night, and where hard-working people enslave themselves to two or three jobs to make the rent.

My feeling is that there is one central question to our lives - how do we best dismantle the systems of oppression that have created this miserable situation for the masses of people?

I have spent my life working to answer this question and besides my personal experiences, the most important resource for this work has been the library - where endless amounts  of research can be accomplished to analyze and solve these critical issues.  The library - where low-income folks like me can access books without having to buy them - simply because there is no way we can afford them.  

Closed libraries mean denial of access to essential information that will inform our struggle to transform our lives and the world in which we live.  Therefore, we simply cannot allow library closures to occur - that is my bottom line.

Every other candidate has put library closures on the table, albeit as a "last resort".  I would rather engage my fellow library lovers to chain ourselves to the City Council chamber doors until the Council recognizes the central importance of libraries, than to vote to close a community library.  That will soon be the decision before us if drastic action is not taken to improve the funding situation.  In assessing the candidates for the Library Board this Tuesday, November 8, I hope voters will consider social justice in their decision and who will really do what it takes to protect and maintain open libraries for all.

forward ever, Samantha Smart

Samantha Smart
speakoutsisters at earthlink.net
smartlibraries2005 at earthlink.net
Smart Libraries are OPEN Libraries!