Help Keep Philadelphias

1
Help Keep Philadelphias

• Free Libraries Open

2
The Problem

• The city of Philadelphia is planning to close 11
  of its 54 neighborhood libraries.

3
Why it is happening

• The city of Philadelphia does not have enough
  money to pay for all of the services it currently
  provides.

CLOSING
CLOSING
Eastwick Branch
Charles L. Durham Branch
4

• Philadelphias City Council and Mayor Nutter
  decided that funding fire companies, police,
  schools and other services was more important
  than keeping the neighborhood libraries open.

CLOSING
CLOSING
Fishtown Branch
Fumo Family Branch
5

• The City Council and the Mayor had to make hard
  choices about what was most important to fund.
• No matter what they chose to cut funding to, it
  would have a negative effect in some way.

CLOSING
CLOSING
Holmesburg Branch
Haddington Branch
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• For example
• Less money for schools might mean fewer people
  getting good jobs and being able to pay taxes.
• Less money for police might mean more crime.

CLOSING
CLOSING
Kingsessing Branch
Logan Branch
7
The Consequences

• These libraries provide important services to
  young children, teenagers, adults, senior
  citizens and families within safe walking
  distance of their homes. They will be losing
  those services.

CLOSING
CLOSING
CLOSING
Ogontz Branch
Queen Memorial Branch
Wadsworth Branch
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Among other services, families in these
neighborhoods will be losing

• Reader development programs
• Adult education classes
• Career workshops and guidance
• Homebound services

• After school and summer programs for young
  children and teens

9

• Three out of four public elementary schools in
  Philadelphia currently dont have full-time
  librarians.

That makes these neighborhood libraries even more
important for elementary school children.
10
Why we want to help

• Living near the city of Philadelphia gives us
  the benefits of
• Museums, theaters, and concerts
• Professional sports
• Colleges and Universities

11

• The city of Philadelphia also gives us access
  to
• Job opportunities
• Hospitals
• An international airport

We think helping to keep Philadelphias free
libraries open is a way for people in the suburbs
to give back to the city.
12
What we can do

• We would like to raise money to support the
  non-profit organization,

This group has been working since 1973 to support
Philadelphias free libraries.
13

• This group helped arrange public meetings and
  rallies and supported legal action to keep the 11
  libraries that were scheduled to be closed on
  January 1st of this year open until June 30th.

14
What weve tried so far

• We first tried contacting the directors of
  Delaware County libraries to see if we could
  place donation cans at their checkout desks. Our
  thought was that people who use local libraries
  would be sympathetic to people who were losing
  their neighborhood libraries.
• The few that replied said, No, and told us
  that these libraries were facing their own
  financial difficulties.

15

• We next tried contacting Wawas main office to
  see if we could get permission to place donation
  cans at their checkout counters.
• Wawa said that they no longer allow collection
  cans for causes other than the ones that they
  already sponsor like the American Heart
  Association.

16
What were going to do now

• Start a penny drive at school to raise money. It
  will last from today until May Fair.
• Each classroom will have a donation can to
  collect pennies, coins, and larger donations.
• At the end of the drive, we will give the
  collected money to Friends of the Free Library
  Philadelphia.

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What can you do to help?

• Bring in spare change from home to donate
• Make signs and flyers to tell parents and others
  about the drive
• Talk to store managers at businesses near your
  homes to see if they could place donation cans at
  their counters for the months of April and May.

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Were kids, where can we get money to donate?

• What ideas do you have?

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Do you have questions?

• You can ask
• Eva or Savannah in Karyns Group
• Ethan or Garrett in Barbaras Group
• Eric, Gabe or Isaac in Glorias Group
• Alex, Robert or Thomas in the OG