" A NAKED DISPLAY OF EMOTION over LIBRARY CLOSINGS
The Friends of the Kingsteignton Library in Devon, England, are taking the
THREATENED CLOSURE of one of 12 underused libraries by the county council
seriously enough to engage in a nude protest. Local library lovers --among
them several councilors at the district and parish levels--have been
demonstrating against the closing of the library, rain or shine, since
Frebruary. But last summer, chanting "Don't strip us of our library,"
the group staged a nude indoor protest behind a shelf of large-print books.
"We have bared our souls to the public, saying that this library really has
to to stay," Friends chairman and Teignbridge District Councilor Mike
Walters said. "There were quite a few members of the public present,"
District Councilor Joan Lambert, also one of the participants, added. "No
one was offended and we all had a good laugh."
Now the Friends have produced a poster to commemorate the occasion, the BBC
News reported October 6. "The poster happened on the spur of the moment,"
Kingsteignton Parish Council Clerk Carolyn Moist said. "A calendar would
have taken too long. It has a very serious message, so we needed a striking
image to grab everyone's attention."
The group has gathered more than l,000 signatures on a petition to keep the
library. A decision by the Devon County Council is expected before
Christmas.
Posted October 6, 2006"
Mpls residents had over 4,000 petitions signatures (plus phone calls,
letters, emails)--although no one seems to know what happened to the
petitons. What a creative fund-raising idea...maybe if we had used a poster
things might have turned out different.
Anymore creative ideas...? (careful where we go on this one)
Best wishes,
Cheryl Luger
Nokomis East Neighborhood