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SUMMER STRAWBERRIES FOR SALE
DAN DWYER | DAILY EGYPTIAN
Barney Barnhert, of Anna, sells freshly picked strawberries Tuesday along West Main Street across from Shnucks. “You should see them right after they are picked, a whole truck load of berries glistening in the sun — it’s beautiful,� said
Barnhert. The berries were grown at Blue Berry Hill Farm in Cobden and are being sold in multiple locations in the area. “I just love them; try one, they’re delicious,� said Barnhert.
Shawnee Library System prepares for big changes and even bigger cuts CHRISTINA SPAKOUSKY Daily Egyptian About a month away from retiring, Joe Harris realized a sad truth: the Shawnee Library System may not exist next year. With fiscal year 2010 coming to a close, Shawnee lacks almost half of pending state grant payments, making cuts in services inevitable and the future uncertain. The system supplies 32 counties in southern Illinois with an online book catalog, consulting services and system technicians. Its catalog contains more than 2.5 million items and delivers books and other items to 77 public libraries and 113 school districts. The system even supplies those services to SIUC. But it may not be around
œœI
t’s a little like the oil slick in the gulf. You can see it happening, but you can’t stop it.
much longer. According to a report by Comptroller Dan Hynes, the Illinois State Library has 1,277 grant payments that must be issued before the end of the fiscal year, making cuts inevitable not only for Shawnee but for all of Illinois. In recent board meeting, executive director of the Shawnee Library System Thomas “Joe� Harris told his staff services would have to be cut and consolidated, adding that they should begin looking for new employment right away.
— David Carlson dean of SIU library affairs “If we run just as we are now we will be out of money by Oct. 1 or Oct. 15‌ that’s the lights off, the servers off, no trucks running, everybody gone,â€? Harris said. “We can’t allow that to happen.â€? In the meantime, Harris said he’s looking for ways to maintain with the least amount of negative impact. He calls it “damage control.â€? David Carlson, dean of library affairs at SIU, said on his end the issue is just another affecting the quality offered by Morris Library.
Last year, more than 1,000 journal subscriptions were cut, hours were shortened and now support from the Shawnee System is hanging in the balance, Carlson said. “I come back to the Legislature; I’m not blaming them, but someone needs to step up and pose a solution,� he said. Harris said he has been talking with other library systems, such as Lewis and Clark and Alliance Library Systems in hopes that they can begin to share a consulting staff and possibly merge the systems. In the 80’s there were around 19 library systems and now there are only nine remaining, Harris said. He said soon there might only be five or six left to serve the state. “We realize that Shawnee may
not exist in a year, but in my 38 years I’ve never seen anything like this,� Harris said. Harris said he’d probably be the last director Shawnee will ever have. He will retire at the end of June, leaving the budget crisis to interim director Ellen Popit. “It’s a little like the oil slick in the gulf,� Carlson said. “You can see it happening, but you can’t stop it.� The Shawnee system plans to sell its 68-year-old building and six acres of land in hopes of diffusing costs. Harris is awaiting appraisal figures before taking that option to the board.
Christina Spakousky can be reached at editor@dailyegyptian.com. or 531-3311 ext. 259