Oregon Humanities Fall/Winter 2008

Cover of Oregon Humanities Fall/Winter 2008
Kathleen Holt
EDITOR
Jennifer Viviano
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Leigh van der Werff
PUBLICATIONS ASSISTANT
Allison Dubinsky
COPY EDITOR
Editorial Advisory Board
Tom Booth
Brian Doyle
Debra Gwartney
Julia Heydon
Marianne Keddington-Lang
Guy Maynard
Win McCormack
Camela Raymond
Kate Sage
Rich Wandschneider
Dave Weich
Curt Yehnert

Oregon Humanities, a journal of ideas and perspectives about the humanities, is published triannually by the Oregon Council for the Humanities, 813 SW Alder Street, Suite 702, Portland, Oregon 97205.

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Field Work: Listening to All Corners of Oregon

An OCH board member's fight to save the Jackson County libraries

OCH board member Kathleen Davis has a favorite quote. By philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, it's etched in granite on the wall of the Medford Central Library: "There is not such a cradle of democracy upon the earth as the Free Public Library, this republic of letters, where neither rank, office, nor wealth receives the slightest consideration."

In September 2006, Congress declined to renew the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act, which had provided millions of dollars of annual funding for Jackson County's libraries. That November, the county voted down a levy designed to fill this loss of funding. Faced with a $23 million shortfall in the budget, Jackson County closed all of its fifteen libraries on April 6, 2007. It was the largest such closure in U.S. history.

"We had to do something," says Davis, a longtime advocate for education and the humanities in Oregon. Her decades of community involvement include three years on the Oregon Shakespeare Festival board of directors, eight years as vice chair of the arts education committee of the Oregon Arts Commission, and nine years on the executive board of the Oregon Alliance for Arts Education.

Davis, her family members, and hundreds of other volunteers formed the Save Our Library System (SOLS) campaign to raise funds for a three-year levy that would serve as a bridge to permanent funding. Davis, who also serves as chair of the county's library advisory committee, acted as the SOLS campaign manager. Her son Joe served as chair. "Hundreds of volunteers worked very hard," she says. "We raised $100,000, including in-kind donations, and spent hours walking the streets, telephoning people, and posting signs."

Amid strong community support, Measure 15-75 was placed on the May 2007 ballot. But the levy, which was set to raise $8.3 million annually for the libraries, had many vocal opponents--and it failed by a nearly 60-40 split. Although Davis says it was one of the great disappointments of her life, she describes the campaign as a successful experience in learning how to engage the community. "The failure meant we needed to learn better how to listen and ask questions. Who are our neighbors? What does it mean to value our communities? It was a wonderful, humbling experience that reminded us that we can't only talk to each other--we have to listen to all corners of Oregon."

A one-year extension of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act meant that Jackson County libraries could reopen for up to three more years, though at half time and with reduced services, through an outsourcing contract with the private, Maryland-based Library Systems & Services, LLC. As of July 2008, all fifteen branches once again welcomed patrons.

But the future of the Jackson County libraries remains tenuous as the community continues to search for long-term funding. "We are still struggling to find appropriate funds," Davis says, "and we need to listen and find out why the community could not spend that amount of money to support its libraries. This is a microcosm of community dialogue, what motivates people, and the ways we value public services. We will listen to the community and respond appropriately."

--Raina Hassan

Published in the Fall/Winter 2008 issue of Oregon Humanities.

© 2008 Oregon Council for the Humanities