Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2010 17:12:25 -0400 From: "Barbara Mathews" <bmathews@gis.net> Subject: [MASSGENCOUNCIL] CALL TO ACTION - Boston Public Library This posting below is from genealogists Alice Kane and Marian Pierre-Louis. It alerts us to planned cutbacks in the premiere resource in Massachusetts for modern newspapers and for papers outside of Massachusetts. Yours, Barbara Mathews, President of MGC ALERT: The Microtext Department and Newspaper Room at the Boston Public Library are in danger of being closed and their resources distributed to alternate locations within AND outside of the Central Library in Copley Square. According to a memo given to department heads last week, it appears that the Microtext Department and Newspaper Room at the Boston Public Library are slated to be closed. The Boston Public Library is an institution at the forefront of freedom of information and equal access to education in the United States. One of the major libraries in the United States, it contains some of the most significant historical collections used by researchers nationally and internationally. The Microtext Department is the designated Massachusetts service point for the US Newspaper Project funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Continued cutbacks and closings such as these jeopardize Americans' access to important current and historical information. Scholars, students, journalists, genealogists, family historians, academic researchers among many others will be severely impacted by the closings of the Microtext and Newspaper rooms. SUGGESTED ACTION: We are asking all concerned individuals to write to the following contacts and let them know that the resources and staff of the Microtext Department and the Newspaper Room should not be eliminated or dispersed. If you are a Massachusetts resident or Boston Public Library patron, please indicate that in your email/letter. The Boston Public Library Annual Meeting will be held Tuesday, May 11, 2010, 8:30am, at the Copley Square Library. Let's let our voices be heard and make an impact now before that important meeting. Contacts: Amy Ryan, President of the Boston Public Library aeryan@bpl.org 700 Boylston St., Boston MA 02116 617-536-5400 Mr. Jamie McGlone, Clerk to the Board of Trustees jmcglone@bpl.org 700 Boylston St., Boston MA 02116 617-536-5400 Mayor Thomas Menino mayor@cityofboston.gov 1 City Hall Square, Suite 500 Boston, MA 02201-2013 617.635.4500 End of MASSGENCOUNCIL Digest, Vol 4, Issue 9 ********************************************