Sign our petition and show Gov. Jay Nixon and Missouri legislators that you support state funding of Missouri’s public libraries, and the important services those funds support.

This year Missouri’s governor is withholding money that was budgeted for public libraries. Barry-Lawrence Regional Library's portion amounts to about $122,000. Some of this money is a subsidy for Internet connections and some is for state aid/equalizationto libraries, which pays for materials, technology, and equipment.

We appreciate the governor’s support of libraries in the past, but our budget year is half over and if that money is not released, patrons may see fewer books, computers and Internet connections.

What can you do to help? If you would like to urge the governor to release funds needed by public libraries, please consider taking any of these actions: Sign our petition in support, consider writing to Office of Gov. Jay Nixon, P. O. Box 720, Jefferson City, MO 65102, call the governor’s office at 573-751-3222 or go to the website www.governor.mo.gov, click “get involved” and fill out the contact form.

Thank you for helping let the governor know that these funds are important to the librarycustomers in Missouri.

For more information about this issue please contact the Barry-Lawrence Regional Library at 417-235-6646 or execdir@blrlibrary.org.