Well, Chicken Corner sure was happy today to be flying back to a city that had a public library with books you could borrow for free. The news, of course came a couple of days ago: the effort to install a $1 borrow fee for books you really wanted (i.e., the ones you asked for, or "put on hold") was put on hold indefinitely.

A new group/website called Save LAPL made it happen right quick. Put together by Kim Cooper and Richard Schave, SaveLAPL.org uses open source software donated to the world by Howard Dean's former campaign. Information does, indeed, want to be free.

From their press release:

In the week leading up to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's 2008-09 budget announcement, a grassroots group of book lovers, L.A. historians, librarians and free-software activists came quickly together as saveLAPL.org in a last minute push to stop a misguided plan to implement a $1-per-book loan fee for all inter-branch library requests. Not quite one week and 875 impassioned emails to the Mayor later, the proposal was taken off the table in a stunning victory for those who believe, as Benjamin Franklin did, that the Public Library must remain FREE for all citizens.

My hope is that, like the Citizens Committee to Save Elysian Park, which was founded in the 1960s, Save LAPL will stay active beyond the current crises.

As for "crises" plural, in a week that has become unpleasant, city-wise, with the release of the mayor's budget ideas, Save LAPL addressed other library troubles as well. Again from the press release:

Another important result of the SaveLAPL campaign was the Library Foundation's creation of a special account where concerned citizens can donate directly into the Library's book buying budget, which has been so deeply slashed by budget cuts that no new books have been purchased since February.

But the Los Angeles Public Library still faces a crisis, and in the days leading up to the May 1-2 city budget hearings, citizens can still visit the savelapl.org website for updates on proposals to close branch libraries, on Sundays lay off workers and reduce the book buying budget by $2 million (a 22% cut from last year and 33% from two years ago).

The SaveLAPL.org website was launched by Kim Cooper and Richard Schave, the newlywed L.A. writers and social historians behind Esotouric bus adventures and the 1947project time travel blog.

Last year, they also pushed for a fire fighting goats initiative (i.e., we use goats to clear brush) that Chicken Corner strongly favored.