An outpouring of e-mail from residents unhappy about the Monday closures of most of the 16 branches of the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, prompted commissioners to come up with the funds needed to keep them open.
Just six days before the closings were scheduled to go into effect, the Mecklenburg County commissioners voted to allocate $135,000 in additional money to PLCMC on July 11. The positions of 50 employees will also be saved.
“This is a victory for libraries everywhere,” declared Robert E. Cannon, PLCMC executive director. “In just one week, patrons sent a large number of e-mail messages to their elected representatives, expressing dismay over the impending reduction in service hours. Because of that spontaneous community-wide effort, it was astounding how quickly the library became a top priority for additional funds and received them.”
In June, commissioners imposed a $360,000 budget cut on PLCMC as part of a $5.4-million revenue rollback in county services and a “no-property-tax-increase budget.”
Posted July 17, 2000.