TO THE MEMBERS OF THE LAFAYETTE, LA GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY I meant to bring this up at the meeting last night and didn't, I'm sorry to say. This is the article I sent you several weeks ago and I wanted to resend it for you to be aware of this terrible destruction of History. Can you imagine this happening to us and it can, all it takes is the stroke of a pen. We are proud of our history and even tho' Florida isn't an adjoing state we once were part of it. That means some of our "Florida Parishes" history will be lost too. Please reread this plea for our help and there is a 2nd letter at the end with an address to sign a petition to stop this. Also can you forward this to everyone you know that values their past and get them to help. Thanks, Belva & Donald From: Julie Hesson [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2003 2:17 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [ROUSH-L] Re: FLORIDA LIBRARY AT RISK HEADS UP!! FLORIDA'S REPUTATION IS GOING SOUR!!! From: Nancy B Clark Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2003 11:51 AM Subject: FLORIDA LIBRARY AT RISK Hello Everyone! This forwarded email (below) was sent to me by my daughter, Pam Cooper, who is the President of the Florida State Genealogical Society and is very involved in anything and everything that is "about Florida". She is also the Genealogical Librarian at the Indian River County Library in Vero Beach, Florida, so you can see she has a very special interest in this situation. Pam also wants all researchers and genealogists that I know - no matter where they live - to be aware of this situation, so I hope you don't mind my sending this to you. We would also love to have your comments and to know that you are sending your comments to the Florida Governor (email address below). The proposal by Governor Jeb Bush of Florida to dismantle the Florida State Library is atrocious and should be stopped immediately. I am sending this memo of Pam's to the people that I know on my own email address book who would be most interested in this kind of project, including many of you who live in Canada. We simply cannot allow the governments of our states, provinces and federal governments to run our lives according to what THEY think is best for us as it usually is not the "best" as far as we are concerned. So let's get behind Pam and the FSGS and STOP THIS PROPOSAL OF GOVERNOR BUSH Send your emails and letters to the Governor and the Florida State Legislators and tell them they cannot allow this to happen in Florida, as it could very well happen in the rest of the country too! Nan Clark Grafton, Wisconsin USA Mom: Do you belong to some listservs that you can forward this to? We need the help of the whole country and the world, if possible! Florida's Historical Treasures Are at Risk Pam Cooper, FSGS President The Florida State Genealogical Society board has unanimously approved joining a coalition to oppose Governor Bush's proposed budget regarding the dismantling of the Florida State Library and Archives. The coalition currently consists of the following organizations: Florida Historical Society Florida Archaeological Council Florida Anthropological Society Florida Trust for Historic Preservation Florida Association of Museums We are asking for help of all genealogists, historians and researchers throughout the U.S. If this can happen in our state, it can happen in yours too. Please write, email, or fax the Florida legislators. Make our legislators aware of this serious error that they are about to commit. We cannot lose Florida's treasures. Send letters, faxes and e-mails to: Governor Bush, The Capitol, Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001, Telephone: (850) 488-4441, FAX (850) 487-080 E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected] Emails and addresses for the House of Representatives and Senators can be found at http://www.leg.state.fl.us/. Facts 1. The Governor has proposed for the 2003-4 budget ZERO dollars for the State Library and Information Services Division. http://www.ebudget.state.fl.us/ 2. It has been proposed that the State Library be eliminated and holdings transferred to Florida State University in Tallahassee by July 1. 3. The proposed budget cuts $17.6 million from FSU's state funding and President T. K. Wetherell said "The way it looks is that someone wants us to assume a responsibility but with no money (provided)." In addition, FSU has limited parking, and their own library is lacking so much space that they use warehouses for some of their holdings. The FSU library would need to hire more staff to facilitate the book processing and increased reference questions, and at the same time reduce their expenditures. 4. The Florida State Library and Archives Division is now part of the Department of State, and is responsible for the State Library, the State Archives, state record keeping and library development services/grants programs for public libraries throughout the state. 5. The proposal for the Bureau of Archives and Records Management is for the Records Management responsibilities to become a part of the Department of Management, and for the State Archives to fall under the parks department of the Department of Environmental Protection. 6. The FloridaMemory.com project will be in jeopardy. This site now contains the photographic collection (over 90,00 pictures), Florida Pension Application Files, Spanish Land Grants, Call and Brevard Family Papers, and many more documents of Florida's early history. 7. The Governor's budget must not pass the Florida Legislature. Session will begin March 4. We still have time to change the tide. For more detailed information go to the Records Preservation & Access Web Site: http://www.fgs.org/rpa/FlCurrent.htm Thank you. Pam Cooper FGS/FSGS 2003 Conference Co-Chair http://www.fgs.org President, Florida State Genealogical Society http://www.rootsweb.com/~flsgs/ Chair, Librarians Serving Genealogists http://www.cas.usf.edu/lis/genealib/ P. O. Box 7066 Vero Beach, FL 32961-7066 I received this today. EVERYONE PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION!!!!!!!!! A RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF THE STATE LIBRARY OF FLORIDA, THE DIVISION OF HISTORY This is the issue I wrote all of you about the terrific Florida Gov. "Duh" Bush proposing to close the state library and put $.00 in the budget for it's upkeep. The Florida Historical Society has created this website to collect electronic signatures for a petition about the State Library of Florida closing. The petition will be sent to the governor and members of the State Legislature on February 28, 2003. Please go to the site and sign the petition even if you do not live in Florida. Please forward to anyone you think might be as concerned as we are. Thanks a bunch. This is a hot issue: http://www.floridahistory.info/petition/?lang=eng#namelist