Dear Erie County Residents and Gannon Alumni,
We reach out to you at a time when school librarians and public libraries are under attack across the country.
In Erie County the attacks keep coming from our County Executive Brenton Davis. First a lease with Gannon which was negotiated behind closed doors, is a disservice to Erie County taxpayers because of its terms and the fact it will take away space from a public institution open to all Erie residents in favor of a private institution.
And Davis is causing more havoc at the library by pushing for cuts in staff. Keep Our Library Public opposes the personnel cuts that Davis is trying to make. It appears he is attempting to dismantle the library. First he initiated the lease with Gannon. Then the Library Director quit abruptly. On Monday, Davis announced he wants to cut 8 positions at the library. Erie Times-News article county-budget-brenton-davis
If Brenton Davis gets his way with the staff cuts to the Blasco library, it will not only have negative impacts on the Blasco but it will affect all the public libraries even the independent ones! Davis says he can justify the cuts because circulation is down at the Blasco.
However the clerk positions he wants to cut are some of the lowest paid positions in the county. And they fulfill tons of services including the processing of thousands of items each month that are shipped to the branches and independent libraries. The 9 clerks being cut from the library system make such little money that their loss will barely cover the pay for the 2 positions Davis created in his administration last year and is trying to restore. These cuts will impact library services for years to come.
Today we are asking "In Memory of Ann Daugherty", can you help us by asking others you know who live in Erie County or are Gannon Alumni to sign our petition?
The late Amy Daugherty, longtime Children’s Librarian at Blasco, liked to say that the library is “the last bastion that serves everyone.”
Amy obtained a bachelor’s degree in English from Gannon University and a master’s degree in Library Science from University of Pittsburgh. During her 35-year career at the Erie County Library, she served as a clerk, branch manager, and drove the Bookmobile throughout Erie County. She later became a children’s librarian, where she enjoyed Story Time with young children and was fondly known as Miss Amy. She retired from the Erie County Library in 2022.
If Amy were still here today, she would be fighting to keep our library public and to protect the library staff and services.
Visit our Facebook page, Keep Our Library Public. Write letters to advocate for Gannon trustees and county council to change their minds.
By signing our petition, you ARE NOT SAYING YOU oppose Gannon’s Project NePTWNE, which includes the Great Lakes Research & Education Center. YOU ARE SAYING: KEEP OUR LIBRARY PUBLIC! Project NePTWNE has merit but it shouldn’t take space in our public library.