Amidst the slashing of library service hours and the threat of impending lay-offs, the Save the Los Angeles Public Library campaign continues. And of course it's not just library services that are being threatened by LA's budget crisis - all sorts of crucial services (and the employees who offer them) are on the chopping block.
The Los Angeles Times has an article today called "Impassioned Pleas to Save City Jobs." Below is an excerpt about our own Durant Branch children's librarian Hillary George.
Councilman Tom LaBonge said city employees facing layoffs have buttonholed him in the hallway. Last week he got a sheaf of drawings from elementary school children urging him not to fire their favorite librarian, Hillary George of the Will & Ariel Durant Branch Library in Hollywood.
"Ms. Hillary" appeared Wednesday before the council in a swishing lime skirt and bubble gum-sized pearls urging members to find a more "creative" solution. Of the 20 librarians on the layoff list so far, George said, she would be No. 12 in seniority.
"This has been a long drama, but it's just gotten a lot more dramatic," LaBonge said. "You can't save every job."
Those pressures have led to messy scenes that could play out again and again in the months ahead.
Go, Ms. Hillary!
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