Dear Elected officials:

We all share your vision for a future Philadelphia filled with educated, employed citizens. With this in mind we have supported Paul Vallas and our elected officials as they strive to improve the quality of public education in our city. We have supported you as you work hard to bring new business to our community be they large entities or small mom and pop stores. We have watched our neighborhoods become transformed as new houses are built, abandoned properties are rehabbed and new immigrants move in.

We are most certainly moving forward but now face a stumbling block which will effect not only our long term success but our short and medium term quality of life: the drastic funding cuts being faced by our local libraries.

The Santore Branch at 7th and Carpenter is just one example. This library is heavily used by the diverse neighbors in Bella Vista, Passyunk Square and Queen Village. It is filled with school children every afternoon. Its clientele includes children and families who come from Mexico and Vietnam as well as long- term residents of the neighborhood. It is actually the most used branch in the area other than the Central Library on the Parkway.

The cuts that this library is facing are nothing short of draconian and will hinder one of our most important community assets for years to come. So far:

• The branch head has been laid off.
• The Children's Librarian has been transferred.
• In the next month or so, all of the staff but one will be transferred out
• The staff will be comprised of part-time clerks.
• The library will only be open in the afternoons: Mon-Sat from 1-5.

We urge you, elected to protect our community short and long term health, to restore funding to the Santore branch and all libraries. We urge you, our elected officials to make sure that libraries are staffed with librarians rather than part-time clerks. We urge you to make sure that libraries, one of the important assets of our communities, remain well funded so that together Philadelphia can make our shared vision of a prosperous future become a reality.

Sincerely,

Dani Ascarelli

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