For a more literate proletariat

What could be more socially responsible and literary than defending public libraries? And so I pass this on, from the United Farm Workers.

Take Action: Online petitions to save Salinas libraries in John Steinbeck’s hometown will be handed in Tuesday

On Tuesday, April 12, National Library Week, more than 100 residents from Salinas, Calif.—including many farm workers and their children—will travel to the state Capitol in Sacramento and hand in petitions they have collected urging lawmakers to save their libraries.

Due to budget cuts, all three libraries in the city of Salinas, hometown of Grapes of Wrath author John Steinbeck, are on track to be shut down soon. Salinas is a poor largely agricultural community where many residents do not have money to buy books or access to computers. Their children don't have many places to study. This community desperately needs it’s libraries.

Last weekend in Salinas, as the nation marked Cesar Chavez’s birthday, dozens of authors, community activists and library backers organized an emergency 24-hour “read-in” outside the Cesar Chavez Public Library to call attention to this pending tragedy.

Make a difference and sign the petition today. Help us tell California elected officials that libraries and education are not expendable.

Sign the petition TODAY!