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Jenny's question is an extremely timely one, and I hope every CTLS-L subscriber will give it the serious attention it deserves. Illustration of the urgency: The big discounts on the telecommunications that most of you are using to connect your patrons to the Internet expire next August 31, 2005 - unless the Legislature renews them. TLA's Gloria Meraz and I attended a Public Utilities Commission hearing last month at which a bevy of telco representatives said how much they love schools and libraries but business is tough now and the discounts come out of their pockets and here's how much revenue we are losing. All the representatives of schools and libraries could say in response was that our funding is shrinking and the discounts are essential. (Who has time to collect the numbers in ways that can make an impact while running a school or library?) The PUC is taking public comment through tomorrow in order to develop a recommendation on whether the discounts should be renewed. Gloria is preparing a statement about how much we need those discounts, but we can't really say how many citizens use our Internet access to help improve their lives or K-12 students to succeed in school. You can bet the telcos will have lots of statistics to support their arguments. More importantly, they will have a bunch of high-paid lobbyists plying the legislators with those numbers. And the discounts are just one part of our problem. Libraries are also facing a potential reduction in state funds (state agencies have been instructed to prepare their 2006-2007 budgets at 95% of current funding), and many libraries have already suffered cuts in local funds. It is essential that we come up with good ways of explaining why we deserve funding. Put your thinking caps on! Bob Gaines -----Original Message----- From: Jenny Ur [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2004 2:07 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: statistics question... I need a good, tangible way to express how much our public internet computers are used. How does everyone else calculate that? I have taken the percentage of hours that we're open with names signed up for internet time before-is that the only way to describe how much they are used? I'd also like to thank everyone who responded to my question last time about ALA. I have decided that belonging to TLA takes care of my needs for professional associations well enough to leave off joining ALA for another few years. Thanks, y'all. Jenny Ur Nancy Carol Roberts Memorial Library 100 W. Academy St. Brenham, TX 77833 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
