#savemolibraries

Or, alternately, the time the KC Keepers and the Plaza Library Teen Services group got kicked out of the Missouri state Governor’s office. 

All right kiddos, it’s been awhile since I’ve posted about my shenanigans with the KC Keepers, but let me tell you this one is a doozy. Our library liaison, Wick, who is a stellar librarian and activist, contacted me awhile back about helping him sponsor a day of advocacy in the Missouri state capital. See, Missouri’s dear governor, J. Nixon, has decided that libraries don’t need money from the state in order to function, and instead of releasing the six million dollars that had already been approved and budgeted, he was going to withhold it. Now, obviously this is a problem. So naturally, the KC Keepers said “heck yeah!” and I along with another chapter member took off work and spent the day with a group of teenagers from Southwest High School, Kansas City Academy, and various other local schools. We took two charter buses full of teenagers (most of whom were on spring break and chose to come do this) down the Jefferson City. 

Wick had gotten us meeting times with our state senators and representatives, confirmed weeks prior. However, he’d been dodged at every corner when he tried to get in touch with the governor over the course of the month. Finally, the night before the trip, a member of Nixon’s staff called, and informed Wick that unfortunately the Governor would be out of town and unable to meet with us. The next morning, however, another staff member called, and told Wick that the Governor would be in meetings in the capital all day, and so unable to meet with us. We decided that we would drop by his office at the end of the day, if only to drop off the ‘OVERDUE: $6 MILLION DOLLARS’ notices that had been made. 

Upon arrival, we held a brief rally on the steps of the capital. Teens and local civil rights leaders spoke, but the rally ended quickly due to the rain. We then met with our state senators and representatives, all of whom were helpful and passionate about getting the funding back for the libraries. The teenagers were all respectful and intelligent in their questions, even after the two and a half hour drive.

Then came the time to drop by Governor Nixon’s office. We filed in, and were told the governor wasn’t in and couldn’t meet with us. Moments later, a staff member opened the door between the waiting area and Nixon’s office, where Nixon was plainly sitting at his desk. The teens asked a few questions, many of which were insightful, and at one point a few teens were talking at once. The people in the office became angry, and told us that it was a working office and we needed to leave if we couldn’t be quiet. We apologized, and promised to be quiet, but were then informed (by who appeared to be a security guard of some sort) that we needed to leave immediately. Wick asked if they wouldn’t mind coming out into the hall with us to answer a few more questions. The guard announced that no, nobody would follow, and if we didn’t leave immediately, he would have the state troopers throw us out.

So we left. But we met up just down the hall to decided what we were going to do next. While we met, several state troopers appeared and stood guard at the door to the governor’s office to ensure we wouldn’t try to reenter. After about fifteen minutes, the Governor himself opened the door, saw the teens standing about forty feet away, and had four state troopers close ranks around him and hustle him away from us. 

Our country is based on the idea that anyone has the right to speak to their elected official, yet the man elected to watch over the interests of the state hid in his office from teens who just wanted to know why their library wasn’t worth paying for. It was disgraceful. 

However, the teenagers were some of the most impressive people I’ve ever met. The moment we entered the governor’s office and it was clear we weren’t wanted, kids started filming. They recorded us being thrown out, the threats, everything. Several of them got photos of the officers and badge numbers to go with. They were tweeting, facebooking, contacting everyone they knew to inform them. By the time we got on the charter bus, news crews were already being contacted. I was so impressed by them all, and it seems that the day has made a difference in their lives, if nothing else. 

For more information, check out the hashtag #savemolibraries, or their website.

Today, roughly a hundred librarians and library patrons (mostly kids) descended on Jefferson City, MO, to demand the 6 million dollars Gov Nixon is unconstitutionally withholding from our libraries. We had meetings with numerous state congressmen and senators.

We had tried beforehand to schedule a meeting with Nixon, but one of his staffers told us he was out of town. Another told us he was in meetings all day. Nonetheless, we were allowed to go to his reception area and talk to some staffers. That’s where shit got weirdly, unexpectedly dicey. 

They accepted our fliers and fielded our comments and questions peaceably enough at first, but then someone made a comment about how odd it was that the gov couldn't pay what was owed to the libraries, but it could pay for some of the extravagances we had seen in the Capitol. 

That pissed them off. 

We were asked to leave rather suddenly, supposedly because we were being too loud (we had been no louder than we had been anywhere else), and when we tried to point this out and agree to be even quieter, they had a state police trooper escort us from the room and threaten us. 

They then shut the door, and had a trooper stand outside... And then another came... and then another... and then another.  Like they thought a bunch of librarians were going to storm the office! 

Then, the cherry on top of our ridiculous sundae, Governor Nixon (noticeably not out of town or in a media) tried to sneak out!

Hey, guys. I’m from Missouri, the state now most famous for fucking up big in Ferguson. I’d like to take a moment of your time to share another way the state gov has fucked up: they’re slashing the budget of our libraries, reducing our ability to get federal funds, and reducing the subsidy for Internet for schools and libraries.

Today, a bunch of librarians, library kids, and I are heading to Jefferson City, the capital, to protest. We’ve got meetings with a lot of representatives, but Governor Nixon is refusing to see us.

I’m not asking you to donate money, or anything like that. But we need to put pressure on Nixon. We need to let him and the rest of the state gov know that people are paying attention, and they are angry. Please help by spreading the word and getting attention— reblog, tweet, post to fb, ect.

Our hashtag is #savemolibraries.

This is important. Losing this money could cripple small town libraries and seriously damage bigger libraries. Libraries represent the best of humanity- generosity, curiosity, and community. They are vital to poor and disadvantaged communities.