Contributor Opinion By Jacquie Kubin: Your Libraries Need You!

Dear Neighbors:

With budget cuts your libraries need your help as they are being considered for additional cuts in hours they are open, services and amenities. It could mean drastically reducing your library services, or even closing your local library.

Hearing dates before the County Council are April 13, 14, 15 and 16th at 7pm held at the Council Office Building, 100 Maryland Avenue, Rockville, MD 20851.

You are encouraged to attend and speak out on behalf of your, and all, libraries. You much call in advance (240-777-7931) to sign up to speak. Each speaker will receive 3 minutes. If you wish a procedures document for speaking at a Public Hearing, please email me directly.

The Library needs people to attend these hearings, but if you cannot, please WRITE your state legislators, county councilmember, newspapers and electronic sources. At the end of this email is a listing of names and email addresses. Let them all know that you care about our library and want to keep it intact and whole. Here are some ideas you can use in your messages.

And if you are not a member of the Friends of the Library please visit our website, making sure to “click” your favorite library so that your donation funds go to your library.

If you have questions, need more information or want to let me know that you will be attending please email me and I will make sure you get the response you need.

Thank you for your action. Please cc me on your emails so that we can keep track of the number of letters sent. And please add Judy Hruz, editor of the Gazette (info also below) to your CC list. Let her know that this is important and deserves media attention.

Thank you in advance for helping.

Best,

Jacquie Kubin
President
Friends of the Library, Twinbrook Chapter

This is a contributor opinion. Rockville Central encourages readers to submit such opinions for consideration — the more voices the better. We especially welcome people who disagree with us. We ask that all such contributions be civil and we reserve the right to edit (in consultation with the author) or reject. Contributor opinions should not be seen as reflecting opinions held by Rockville Central editors, as they are just as frequently at odds with our own views. That’s the whole point!

Kids Eat Free on Tuesdays, But Where?

Readers have been asking where the kids can eat for free at Rockville Town Square on Tuesday nights. The subject even came up at our elementary school planning meeting last night.

Tuesday nights from 6 PM to 8 PM at Rockville Town Square are tons of fun with free activities for kids of all ages: a rock climbing wall, minature golf, baseball, dance and a velcro wall, plus special performances. Although we haven’t been able to go because mom (me!) has lots of meetings, we want to go before the festivities end on July 22nd.

While you are visiting Town Square, make sure to stop by the Rockville Library and participate in the Summer Reading Club entitled “Catch the Reading Bug”. Sign up at the library before July 31st and receive free prizes as you return with your reading logs throughout the summer.

Now back to kids eating free! The Rockville Town Square website lists the following information:

Austin Grill
(Every Tuesday – Lunch/Dinner. For each adult entrée purchased, up to two kids get a free item off the kid’s menu.)

Bobby’s Crabcakes
(Lunch/Dinner. Free peanut butter & jelly or marshmallow fluff sandwich with milk. Minimum $15 adult purchase)

Fractured Prune
(Lunch/Dinner. Free donut with minimum $5 purchase.)

Gifford’s Ice Cream & Candy Co.
(Lunch/Dinner. Free small cup for kids with an adult purchase. All day)

Gordon Biersch
(Offer valid lunch only, from 11am-4pm. One free kid’s meal (off the kid’s menu) per one adult entrée.)

Greystone Grill
(Lunch/Dinner. One free kid’s meal with purchase of an adult entrée;. Dine-in only.)

La Tasca
(Lunch/Dinner. One child per adult. Minimum $15 purchase.)

Lebanese Taverna
(Lunch/Dinner. Free kid’s meal with purchase of an adult entrée.)

Moe’s Southwest Grill
(Lunch/Dinner. Free kid’s meal with purchase of an adult entrée and drink. Kids 12 and under. Kid’s meal includes fountain beverage and cookie.)

Primo Italiano
(Dinner only, 4pm – close. One child size pasta with purchase of an adult entrée)

Robeks Fruit Smoothies & Healthy Eats
(Lunch/Dinner. Free Jr. Size smoothie with purchase of a 24oz or larger)

Stonefish Grill
(Lunch/Dinner. One free kid’s entrée with purchase of an adult entrée.)

Sushi Damo
(Lunch/Dinner. One free child entrée per adult entrée purchase. Not valid with any other offers.)

Simply mention the Kids Day Event to the above participating restaurants for the Kids Eat Free special offer. Be aware that additional restrictions may apply. You should contact participating restaurants for more details.

County Decision on Rockville Library Parking

While visiting the Human Service Advisory Commission this evening, Rockville City Councilmember Anne Robbins reported that the Montgomery County Council had voted to continue to fund two hours of free parking in the Town Center garages for patrons of the Rockville Library.

Anne said that she worked with Judge Irwin Cohen and County Councilmember Phil Andrews to stop the resolution which would repeal the Policy on Parking at County libraries. A group of citizens with signs also turned out to show their support for free library parking.

So for now, the County will continue to pay Rockville. You will still be able to punch your parking space number into the machine in the library lobby and enjoy free parking.

Support Free Parking At Rockville Library

Rockville Central friend (and president of the Rockville Library Advisory Committee) Gayl Selkin-Gutman sends along a note that:

The County Council is scheduled to vote on the library parking issue tomorrow, June 10 at approximately 4:30 in the 7th floor hearing room. I spoke with Phil Andrews who suggested that those of us who want to attend should try to be there around 3 PM in order to get seats. (Bring reading material). I will prepare 8 x 11 signs that read “Keep Library Parking Free” so that our Council members know what we’re there for.

What Gayl is referring to is the possibility that the County Council may choose, contrary to a 2006 policy on the issue, choose to cease paying Rockville for free parking for library patrons. The amount involved is a pittance in the scheme of things: $84,000 is the figure I have heard, which is about the salary of one upper-mid level manager.

I don’t normally go public with my personal opinions on issues, but my opinion is that the Council should stick to its policy and keep the parking free.

In case you care to attend, the info is:

Montgomery County Council Office Building (COB) 7th floor hearing room
100 Maryland Avenue
Rockville, MD 20850

Contributor Opinion by Gayl Selkin-Gutman

The following contributor opinion is by Gayl Selkin-Gutman, president of the Rockville Library Advisory Committee. She sent it along as an email originally, and I have reformatted it as an “opinion piece.”

If you listened to the last edition of Rockville Central Radio, you know that we discussed the fact that the Montgomery County Council appears poised to do away with a subsidy that makes free parking at Rockville Library possible. This contradicts a 2006 policy that the Council passed making parking free for all library patrons throughout Montgomery County.

My own opinion is that ending this subsidy, which I am told is $84,000 per year, is a bad move and sends the wrong message about the worth of public libraries. Libraries can turn areas that are otherwise strictly commercial in nature into civic hubs — witness what is beginning to happen in Town Square. This move would work against that, treating this important public institution as just another shop in a commercial center.

Enough from me. Here is Gayl’s note:

Dear Friends of the Library, Rockville Chapter and Members of the Rockville Library Advisory Committee,

As you may have heard, on Tuesday, May 13th the County Council plans to consider a hastily proposed resolution to eliminate the library parking subsidy. This means that the policy adopted in April 2006, enabling Montgomery county library patrons to park for free near all of the county’s libraries could be rescinded. The Rockville Library Advisory Committee seeks to encourage library use, and we support free parking at all county libraries. We believe that this resolution is the wrong way to go.

If you support free parking at the county’s libraries, please take the time to send an email, or contact your Council member to let them know of your support for this policy.

Following are some important points:

• The policy was established after significant input and deliberation – and should not be rescinded without allowing enough time to adequately inform the public, provide opportunities for sufficient input and understand the impacts of such a change.
• Requiring paid parking at only two of the 22 branches will deprive some county residents of equal access to their libraries.
• Imposing a parking fee would discourage library use for many patrons for whom driving is their only viable option for getting to the library.
• Many daytime library users, senior citizens on fixed incomes, the poor or the disabled, simply cannot afford to pay for parking

Thanks for your interest and support of the Rockville Library.

Rockville Central runs occasional, edited opinion pieces by contributors as well as other guest columns. Their views are not necessarily those of Rockville Central. We encourage you to join the growing list of contributors! To submit your piece for consideration, contact us.

Literacy Tutor Training at Rockville Library

I remember a man who worked for my father when I was a kid. He was one of the best mechanics and he had a country western band that played parties at our house. He also couldn’t read. When my dad needed him to run an errand, he would write the first letter of the business on a piece of paper and send him down the street to match it to the correct sign. As a kid I couldn’t believe a grownup was unable to read.

So, I was struck by the fact that today, right here in Montgomery County, our Literacy Council (LCMC) estimates that 1 in 8 adults are functionally illiterate. They are unable to complete an application, understand a package label, or even read this blog. LCMC helps by providing volunteer tutors, but it has over 200 adult students on its waiting list. They will continue to wait 6 to 12 months.

LCMC provides some other literacy facts:

-Children of parents who are unemployed and have not completed high school are five times more likely to drop out of high school.

-Annual health care costs in the U.S. are four times higher for individuals with low literacy skills than they are for individuals with high level literacy skills.

-Women in the U.S. who have little formal education are more likely than educated women to be in abusive relationships.

-One-half of all adults in U.S. federal and state correctional institutions cannot read or write at all; 85 percent of juvenile offenders have reading problems.

-A one percent increase in high school graduation rates would save approximately $1.4 billion in costs associated with incarceration.

Obviously, it’s much more than just reading.

LCMC is holding tutor orientation right here at our new Rockville Library on Tuesday, October 2, 2007 from 7:30 PM – 9 PM. Tutors teach an adult to read, write or speak English either one-on-one or with small groups. They meet with students in libraries or community centers at mutually convenient times.

Since 1976, LCMC has tutored more than 9,500 native and foreign born students, with the aid of over 6,800 volunteers. If you have the time to volunteer, you could change someone’s life for the better.

Registration is required. Call 301-610-0030 or email info@literacycouncilmcmd.org After the orientation session, potential tutors attend a two-day, 12-hour training workshop. There is a $25 registration fee to defray the cost of the workshop.

Update: City Council Wants "Memorial" Library

As you may know, there is a move afoot to name the new Rockville Public Library in honor of former Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan. This has become a controversy. See the earlier post on this subject here.

On Monday, according to the Gazette:

The [Rockville city] council voted 4 to 1 to send a letter to County Executive Isiah ‘‘Ike” Leggett (D) asking that a five-year county waiting period, designed to delay naming a building after a person until a handful of years after his or her service ends, not be waived. Leggett has the final say on the matter.

Their vote, instead, is to name it the Rockville Memorial Library, in honor of local soldiers kiled in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Councilwoman Susan R. Hoffman cast the dissenting vote. ‘‘Naming the library after our native son, I think, is perfectly appropriate,” she said, reports the Gazette.

Duncan Library?

If you read the Gazette or the Washington Post, you know it is possible that the new library in Rockville Town Center could be named for the former Montgomery County executive and former Rockville mayor (and West End resident) Doug Duncan.

The new MoCo executive, Ike Leggett, is set to make the decision after a board (stacked, critics say, with Duncan supporters) has recommended to go with the name. This would make it one of the few libraries in the county that has a person’s name affixed (usually they are named after the place they are) and Leggett would have to waive a county policy that requires people for whom buildings are named to have been away from public service for at least five years.

[edit] According to WaPo, “Duncan backers said that he was a supporter of public libraries and that he increased funding, expanded library hours and fought for state money for the Rockville project during his 12 years in office.” [/edit]

Critics say that Duncan did not push hard enough, when MoCo executive, for library funding and so it would be wrong to name a library after him. Among alternatives that have been proposed is “Rockville Memorial Library,” to honor fallen soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

What do you think?