>From: "Billie R. McNamara" <[email protected]> >Subject: Please help Odom Library! > >Forgive me if you get duplicates of this message-I'm trying to publish >it as widely as I can by sending it to all the lists I'm subscribed to. > >Here's an opportunity for us to show just what genealogists can do by >working together. Please forward this to as many individuals and mailing >lists as you can. > >The Family Tree Magazine, published by Odom Library in Moultrie, GA, is a >**major** resource for genealogists in the US and other locations. While >it has a predominantly Scottish orientation, the bi-monthly magazine is >something that many of us read from cover to cover for all sorts of >tidbits. The paper is self-supporting through ads and postage donations- >there is no subscription charge to the more than 65,000 people who receive >a copy. > >According to an article in the December/January issue, the US Postal >Service (which I'm sure has made a flipping fortune off genealogists, and >which announced a rate increase as of 10 January, and which wouldn't be >facing financial woes if it ran more efficiently-end of soapbox) has >assessed a HUGE fine on Odom Library and the Family Tree Magazine-nearly >$80,000 -- because the magazine contains travel information. Apparently, >the postal inspector said it's okay to have articles about travel, since >travel is a part of genealogy, but "someone might have fun on one of the >trips." That is too ludicrous to warrant a response! > >All the appeals so far, including Congressional inquiries from Georgia >legislators, have been denied or ignored. > >On top of that, the USPS <insert your favorite derogatory epithet here> >inspectors decided that, while the Moultrie Public Library was a non-profit >organization and entitled to use its mailing permit, the Odom Library >(which has always been a part of the Moultrie Library) is not. > >What can we do about this? Write letters. Send e-mails. Inundate the >USPS site (www.usps.gov) with complaints. Write, call, and e-mail your >Congress critters. > >We have to save Family Tree Magazine-not just for its own sake, but to >prevent the USPS from investigating and placing similar sanctions against >all the other genealogical publications out there. > >Now-go have fun on a genealogy trip and send a postcard to the >Postmaster General to let him know you did it! <vbg> > >And get that stack of snailmail genealogy correspondence caught up before >10 January, or it will cost you more to send it!