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I would
never thought I would see this in my life.

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These individuals showing up
at our library, looking purposely

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for a confrontation and video
taping themselves with their smartphones.

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Welcome to CADL Cast with Capital Area
District Libraries.

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Executive Director Scott Duimstra.

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Welcome to another episode of CADL Cast.

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Libraries across the state and country
are witnessing an unprecedented uptick

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in book challenges.

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The future of a West Michigan library
itself.

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The impact of these book challenges.

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When a small group succeeded
in their campaign against the library's

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millage renewal
over a small offering of LGBTQ materials,

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essentially removing
85% of the library's budget.

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Joining us today is Larry Walton, the
Library Board president of Patmos Library.

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Larry, thank you so much for joining us
at CADL Cast.

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Yes, thank you for having me this morning.

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I appreciate that
for getting the word out.

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And just to kind of get the word out,
can you tell us

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more a bit about the situation
and how it came to be?

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So. So, yes,
just to summarize this quickly,

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because there is quite a year long history

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behind this tale and this situation.

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But you you mentioned that there was
there was

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and is still an organized group
of what's called

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Jamestown conservatives.

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And that that is a group
that has a lot of conservative roots

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in this Jamestown area
that is part of, I'll say, a Dutch reform

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church group.

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And they did they did organize
because they

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they were not happy with LGBTQ books

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that were on our
ARE and are still on our shelves.
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And they were
they were frustrated because they felt

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that the library board of which I am
part of, was not taking any action.

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Therefore, their action was to simply

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organize, have a “no campaign―,
and ultimately

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the millage failed on August 2nd,

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thus potentially resulting

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in the closing,
the future closing of our doors.

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And I think that's
what a lot of people don't realize.

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And even when I read about the story
that that even the vote

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no, people were like, well,
no one will essentially close the library.

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There will be other ways to fund it.

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And I don't think people realize,
no, there isn't.

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These operational millages are essential.

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And so the library gained national
attention when the millage failed.

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How is it impacted the library
and the community to be at the center

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of the Book Banning debate?
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So so first off,

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the words address of our

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our library staff

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was already stressed because

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we've had two directors quit this year

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due to harassment and safety concerns

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that the conservative group
was initiating unfortunate.

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I would never thought
I would see this in my life that we

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that we did experience these individuals
showing up at our library

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and looking for looking purposely
for a confrontation

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and videotaping themselves
with their smartphones.

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So they were looking they were looking
to confront the directors.

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We saw we lost two directors this year.

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We are still without a director,
which leads up to the stress

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going into the into the vote.

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We had no directors, so the staff was out

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stressed due
to picking up the slack of the director.

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The board members picking up the slack of
of not having a director,

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and then all of a sudden it's voted down.

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So now you have the added stress of, well,
I'm going to lose my job,

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the doors are going to close
and I'm going to lose my job.

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So that, you know, that's
very the anxiety these the stress levels.

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They are

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still you know, this this wasn't this,
you know, it's what, three weeks away?

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Yeah.

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So it's still very recent
and it's still very hard at this point.

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So. Sure.

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And I know you've gotten

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a lot of national attention and local
and state attention as well, too.

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Can you tell us about the support
that you've received in response?

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So so, yes, I want to break that up in two
regards there.

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There is the local community
support outpouring, which is phenomenal.
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So a lot of our community, we are just
short of 10,000 people in our community.

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We are a very fast growing community
in our area.

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Be in our location close to Grand Rapids,
but still being in the country,

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it's a it's a very popular area
for people to move into.

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So first off,
there was a large portion of our community

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that was not aware that this was going on.

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Now they do this
this local and national attention

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has gotten the word out
that this is a major issue.

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This is a national issue.

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And in our small town is in the spotlight
this whole month.

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So so the local community has come out

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our last board meeting
had a record number of people.

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We were almost at 200 people
showing up to a board meeting.

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That's wow.

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We jokingly say a little over a year ago
and for the last 20 years,
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we had no public
show up to our board meetings.

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Now you're the
hottest ticket in town. So we

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we we are

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unfortunately unfortunately we we
we expect and anticipate large

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audience is now we welcome

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feedback, you know, so it's all good.

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So the local support has been phenomenal.

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And of course nationally
we never expected that

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there was an article by Bridge,
Michigan, that

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that one article was probably
the first article that came out

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and that really exploded
and exploded nationally.

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So a national and national attention
everywhere.

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So you should I know it's very stressful,
but just as someone in the

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library community that should be really
proud of this, you're standing up

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for kind of the essential purpose
of public libraries,

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which is access to all
and that First Amendment rights.

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And and we in the library community,
not only just your local residents, but

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but those of us in the library community
are truly behind and support you.

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And I know Millages, even just in a normal
time can be very stressful.

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But with yours not passing,
you are putting it back on the ballot

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later this year.

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So can you tell us how that's going

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and if there's anything community members
can do to lend their support?

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So so yeah.

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So we did quickly
we had we during our board meeting

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had to make a choice between three options

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in regards to re pursuing a millage.

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As you stated,
85% of our budget is the millage.

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So the only way to keep our doors
open is to pursue our millage long term.

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I say that long term
because of course we've gotten

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an influx of funds
coming in from donations
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that will keep us open for a year,
but long term ten years.

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I have to have that millage.

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So we we voted,
we made a decision to pursue

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quickly
this come this coming November ballot.

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We are pursuing that.

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And we just formed

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our millage committee last night

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assigned I assigned

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action items last night quickly

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this attention has allowed us

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to receive a lot of volunteers.

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And your question?

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We need still more volunteers.

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We still need local volunteers
to help out with our committee.

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So that's the first thing
I'm asking for, is for individuals

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to contact the library, contact myself
to help out.

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If you can, to volunteer
with this committee.

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We call it the yes committee. And then

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here again,

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support, if you can't be on the millage,
simply

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if you can volunteer to put a
yes sign in your yard, it's that simple.

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You can get a hold of us will be

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put place in order to to manufacture yes.

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Signs to get the word out
and just to have a large viewing of.

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Yes signs throughout our community
would be would be phenomenal.

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So that's what we're hoping for.

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We're anticipating and spreading the word

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to get a larger portion of our residents

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to come out
to vote, this time in the November.

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The August was obviously during
that time frame.

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August is of a very much smaller
turnout during that time.

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So it is and we were Capital Area
District Libraries system

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our operational millage was on the
the the August ballot as well too

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in a lot of your planning as you just
you need people

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who use the library to get out and vote
to show up at the polls.

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And I think what you said is essential.

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Like you need to
if you support the library,

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you need to show up at the polls or vote
however you vote.

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And and it's not just sit back
and yeah, it'll pass,

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but no, you have to be an active voter
if you do see the value of the library.

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Yes, very, very good.

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We need everybody, pro library supporters
to come out and vote. Yes.

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Bottom line.

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So and what are you hoping that listeners
take away from this conversation?

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So so what I'm hoping they take away
is the simple statement

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that all public libraries are

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for everyone, that that's key.

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That is a key element.

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The second thing I would take away

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from from this experience of listening

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to our

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to our community, to our patrons,
is just simply

00;10;35;02 - 00;10;39;11
you as parents
taking your children to a public library.

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You're responsible for your children.

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You monitor your children.

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You monitor what your children,
what section of the library they're in,

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what books they may be looking at you
as the parent are responsible.

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We as the library are catering
to all aspects of our community.

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You could not have said it better, Larry.

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And for our listeners,
I will also add legally,

00;11;06;09 - 00;11;09;17
library employees
cannot act in place of a parent.

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So if you
if you want your child to use the library

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and the library in the way
that you imagine them using that book,

00;11;18;23 - 00;11;22;14
show up with them
and visit the library with them.
00;11;22;14 - 00;11;26;14
And they will
they will follow your lead, so... Yes.

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Thank you.

00;11;28;03 - 00;11;32;02
Is there anything you'd like to say
to listeners who voted no for the library

00;11;32;02 - 00;11;37;02
millage or those who are undecided on
where they stand on the library vote? Yes.

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Our millage campaign
we talked about this last night,

00;11;40;20 - 00;11;44;25
our millage committee
will be campaigning to increase

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the awareness of

00;11;47;08 - 00;11;50;10
what our millage is asking for.

00;11;50;10 - 00;11;51;23
Is millage.

00;11;51;23 - 00;11;55;00
Language is confusing
and you show up to vote.

00;11;55;11 - 00;12;01;05
And we know that when you show up
and you see a word that says increase

00;12;01;07 - 00;12;06;15
during these time of higher inflation
and money is very tight for people.

00;12;06;15 - 00;12;09;19
And right away
they read and see a word increase.

00;12;09;19 - 00;12;13;27
I'm letting our people know
that our increase

00;12;14;16 - 00;12;18;11
represents
what we call a 0.1 mill increase,

00;12;18;24 - 00;12;22;09
that 0.1 mill
for an average household represents

00;12;22;09 - 00;12;27;26
approximately an additional $20 to you
per family all year.

00;12;27;26 - 00;12;31;07
So it's a very small amount
from our point of view,

00;12;31;07 - 00;12;35;13
that additional money
to the library represents roughly

00;12;36;13 - 00;12;39;26
around an additional $60,000 a year.

00;12;40;10 - 00;12;43;26
And that small amount of money,
we consider

00;12;43;26 - 00;12;48;19
that small amount,
that small amount of money

00;12;48;19 - 00;12;51;22
was being subsidized by our township.

00;12;52;04 - 00;12;53;11
And we,

00;12;54;15 - 00;12;57;18
in collaboration between the library board
and the township

00;12;57;18 - 00;13;01;06
board, both agree
that we would like the library to be

00;13;01;22 - 00;13;06;12
self-sufficient,
self-funding entity of the township.

00;13;06;12 - 00;13;11;04
And so if the if the millage can support

00;13;11;13 - 00;13;14;18
without the township
being involved with subsidizing,

00;13;14;18 - 00;13;17;28
then we were both agreement that this
this is a good thing.

00;13;18;17 - 00;13;23;09
But we we know in the next two months
we have to do a better job

00;13;23;09 - 00;13;28;24
communicating that that slight increase
is not a large dollar amount,

00;13;28;24 - 00;13;31;23
but as a whole
it helps keep our doors open.

00;13;32;29 - 00;13;35;14
It helps to deal with inflationary costs

00;13;35;14 - 00;13;37;20
with wages of our staff.

00;13;38;14 - 00;13;42;06
It helps us to even increase hours in

00;13;42;26 - 00;13;46;29
and it will help us find a new director.

00;13;46;29 - 00;13;49;13
They said again without a director.

00;13;49;13 - 00;13;53;08
And we found and we know that

00;13;53;08 - 00;13;57;25
for us to obtain a quality director
that we need to start offering

00;13;59;08 - 00;14;00;13
some supplement or

00;14;00;13 - 00;14;03;03
supplementary benefits with that position.

00;14;03;12 - 00;14;05;00
We didn't have that in the past.

00;14;05;00 - 00;14;06;20
We do need to offer that.

00;14;06;20 - 00;14;12;13
So so there are some costs
to having a quality library in our area.

00;14;12;21 - 00;14;14;06
I agree with that.

00;14;14;06 - 00;14;17;03
Quality library listeners,
you get that money back.

00;14;17;03 - 00;14;20;23
I mean, for the increase that Larry
talked about, check out two items a year.

00;14;21;00 - 00;14;22;06
You get that back already.

00;14;22;06 - 00;14;25;25
So it's very easy
to get your return on investment.

00;14;25;25 - 00;14;28;02
And I thank you very. That's a great word.

00;14;28;02 - 00;14;28;28
That's a great. Word.

00;14;28;28 - 00;14;31;02
Now, this is a. Library type.

00;14;31;02 - 00;14;35;21
Podcast, so we always like to end
with a suggestion from our guests.

00;14;35;21 - 00;14;38;15
So any titles that you're reading
that you're watching

00;14;38;15 - 00;14;41;12
or that you're listening to,
that you would recommend to our listeners.

00;14;41;21 - 00;14;45;10
Okay, so what, what one of my favorites is

00;14;45;10 - 00;14;48;21
I want to suggest to the audiences I read

00;14;48;21 - 00;14;51;01
an author named Robert Parker.

00;14;51;24 - 00;14;55;04
Robert Parker has a series
called The Spenser Series.

00;14;55;04 - 00;14;58;04
And there's actually been a movie
out there called

00;14;58;04 - 00;15;01;05
Spenser on the on the series of books.

00;15;01;20 - 00;15;06;15
But I'm recommending Robert Parker's
Spenser series, and I love it

00;15;06;15 - 00;15;11;23
just because it's there is lots of action
and there is actually lots of humor
00;15;12;29 - 00;15;14;10
in these actions.

00;15;14;10 - 00;15;18;04
So any way I just wanted to throw that out
as being one of my favorites.

00;15;18;09 - 00;15;19;18
It's great suggestion.

00;15;19;18 - 00;15;20;12
Great suggestion.

00;15;20;12 - 00;15;23;20
Larry, thank you so much for joining us
on CADL Cast today.

00;15;23;26 - 00;15;25;05
We wish you the best of luck.

00;15;25;05 - 00;15;27;20
I'm very confident
that that your message will pass.

00;15;27;20 - 00;15;28;21
But you have

00;15;28;21 - 00;15;32;17
many fans here in the Ingham County area
and we'll be watching with close eyes.

00;15;32;27 - 00;15;34;26
Thank you. Thank you for everything.

00;15;34;26 - 00;15;35;21
And for our listeners,

00;15;35;21 - 00;15;39;10
thank you so much for listening
to this latest episode of CADL Cast.

00;15;39;28 - 00;15;41;21
Don't miss another great interview.

00;15;41;21 - 00;15;47;12
Subscribe to the CADL Cast podcast
and share it with a friend.

00;15;47;12 - 00;15;48;15
Hey Stevie in the morning

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with DeDe's Weekly Downloads
from Capital Area District Libraries,

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this week's title is Didn’t
We Almost Have It All:

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In Defense of Whitney Houston by Garrett
Kennedy.

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Music Journalist
Kennedy brings years of research

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plus respect for his subject
to this examination

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of the complexities of Houston's
life, music and legacy.

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To stream or download
this or other featured titles, visit

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cadl.org/dede, Stacks

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92.1.