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Protesters to challenge Ferguson Library cuts

May 11, 2010 at 4:03 pm by Olivia Just

A protest has been organized to speak out against the proposed cuts in city funding for the Ferguson Library, at 4:30 p.m. today at the Government Center, 888 Washington Blvd. Budget cuts could lead to reduced library hours and the closing of branches across Stamford.

Olivia Just

Posted in Public libraries | 2 Comments
2 Comments »

  1. Massive overtime for police and a huge chunk of tax money going for education. Yet this city can’t find money for one of the great draws of this community: its dynamic library. It’s becoming clearer and clearer that there’s no real pleasure in living in Stamford anymore. All the good things about it are going away and it’s becoming a money pit for the middle class. These cuts are outrageous!

    Comment by John — May 11th, 2010 @ 10:55 pm

  2. Ferguson Library.
    I came of age in the old Ferguson Library, dropped off on saturdays as a child for the opportunity to read when others were probably playing Little League baseball (hence my outstanding vocabulary and sub-par knuckle ball!)

    In later years (kids, do not try that this at home) I skipped high school and made my way down Strawberry Hill to the Ferguson (stopping for a Bess Eaton donut and coffee on the way or at my uncle Vinny’s hot dog joint along the way)

    On rainy days I hid in the stacks (figuratively) and absorbed political tracks (like Ayn Rand and Bill Buckley), bullfights and the Spanish Civil War (Hemingway) or the face of the future like Orwell’s Animal Farm and 1984 (recall this was 1969 and 1984 was the future)

    The Ferguson had oddities in its periodical section from right to left to outside the box and I absorbed it all.

    Libraries are at the heart of a community, accessible to all from the high school kid to retiree to the less fortunate who find warmth in its chairs and the opportunity to escape in its collection.

    While I am no longer in Stamford (and havent been in the Ferguson for 30 years!) I never miss a library visit when I travel and know that my life, as an educator, was begun, in the reading room at the old Ferguson library four decades ago.

    Comment by Dr Roy Nirschel — June 7th, 2010 @ 11:32 am

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AmericanLion

For November, I'll be reading American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham, which won the Pulitzer Prize last year. We'll update our book club selection for December and January shortly.

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Meet the Authors:

  • Marilyn Ramos is a partner at the Stamford litigation law firm of Silver Golub & Teitell. She is a member of the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association and the Connecticut Bar Association. She is currently on the Board of Directors of the Fairfield County Bar Association and the Fairfield County Bar Foundation. She received her law degree from Pace University School of Law in 1989 and is a member of the Connecticut and New York bars. Prior to her career in law, she was a teacher with the Greenwich Public Schools and worked for the Stamford Human Rights Commission. Her views expressed on this blog are completely her own and do not represent those of Silver Golub & Teitell.
  • Roy J. Nirschel is president of Roger Williams University in Bristol, R.I. He grew up in Stamford and his father was a firefighter on the West Side. He received his bachelor's degree from Southern Connecticut State University and went on to receive a master's degree in public administration and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Miami. He has traveled around the world, visiting 35 countries, but said, "I can’t credit on the road with getting me on the road."