Oregon Library System Set To Close

By Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 4/15/2007

Jackson County Library Services, OR, a 15-library system, was set to close April 7, after the U.S. Congress failed to renew the Secure Rural Schools and Self-Determination Act, which would have reinstated timber subsidies and provided more than 70 percent of the system’s budget (see News, LJ 3/1/07, p. 20). To help shore up that $7 million deficit and allow the library to reopen after a brief time, the county has scheduled a levy vote on May 15.

American Library Association president Leslie Burger commented on March 23, “I understand that the loss of federal funding has placed Jackson County in a very difficult position, but closing its libraries on April 7 is not the answer.” Burger reiterated the importance of libraries to their communities and cited studies that show that investment in libraries has significant ripple effects. “It is not too late for the community in Jackson County to invest in their libraries,” she said, urging a vote for the property tax levy. She noted that the levy would cost the average homeowner “a little over $9 per month, less than the cost of a DVD or CD.”