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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Adding my voice to the list of library professionals advocating for prioritizing the retention of -- and/or the reallocation of alternative funding sources to retain -- State
Library of Oregon (SLO) staff. My voice is also that of an Oregon resident and taxpayer and product of Oregon public schools.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">I am grateful to Roxanne and to Star for sharing their wisdom, and for everyone who is chiming in. Yes to all your words about it being the staff, the workers, who make libraries
sources of empowerment, safety, expertise, inclusion, values, community. You say so well all the things and feelings I don’t know how to put into words. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">As a library worker and a human being with feelings, the SLO-provided service I have found most invaluable in 2025 is not a tool or a grant. It’s an informal virtual meetup,
facilitated by an amazing SLO staffer, where I can be in a supportive and safe community with peers from across the state. Without staff, this critical service wouldn’t exist. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">I’ve read the updates from State Librarian Wendy Cornelisen but I didn’t realize what has been implicitly missing for me from those communications: layoffs. I recognize I was
making a lot of assumptions because I had not seen that word.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Rather than making assumptions, I’ll respectfully ask: Is the State Library prioritizing retaining all of your staff? How? What alternative funding exists in case the IMLS/LSTA
funds are yanked? What funds can be reallocated? How can we help? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Libraries are trusted partners for our communities. The State Library of Oregon is my trusted professional partner --
<i>because </i>of the SLO staff and library workers I have had the fortune to connect with and learn from. Being a trusted partner requires dedicated people. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Respectfully and with gratitude, ~Jane L.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">--<b><br>
</b></span><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#C00000">Jane Littlefield, MLIS, MA</span></b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><br>
<b>Instruction Librarian</b><br>
<span style="color:#0070C0"><a href="https://www.mypronouns.org/"><span style="color:#0070C0">Pronouns</span></a></span>: she/her<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><u><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#0070C0"><a href="mailto:jane.littlefield@clackamas.edu"><span style="color:#0070C0">jane.littlefield@clackamas.edu</span></a></span></u><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><br>
503-594-3474 <br>
<span style="color:#0070C0"><a href="https://libguides.clackamas.edu/home/"><span style="color:#0070C0">library.clackamas.edu</span></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#C00000">Clackamas Community College</span></b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><br>
19600 Molalla Ave. Oregon City, OR 97045</span><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#C00000"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">If you have an accommodation need for a planned meeting, please email me directly and I will do my best to make appropriate arrangements. Should you
require any materials sent via this email address in an alternate/accessible format, please let me know.</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;background:white"><i><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4472C4">Clackamas Community College recognizes that it sits on the traditional homelands of the Clackamas, Cascades,
and Tumwater bands of Chinooks, as well as the Tualatin and Pudding River bands of Kalapuya and the Northern Molalla people. The College extends its respect and gratitude to the Indigenous peoples who have lived here since time immemorial.</span></i><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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