We NEED YOU to help save our libraries!
www.codepinkalert.org/National_Actions_Salinas.shtml

In the hometown of the great John Steinbeck and heart of the farmworker community, the entire public library system is scheduled to close for lack of funds. This poor farmworker community has paid $80.5 million in taxes for the war in Iraq, but doesn't have $5 million to keep its libraries open.

As part of CODEPINK's new Local Cost of War Campaign designed to save vital community services while highlighting the billions spent on war, we teamed up with the Salinas Action League, United Farmworkers and other community groups to organize this event in Salinas at Cesar Chavez Library.

Please join us: bring your tent (if you have one), sleeping bag and favorite books. You'll be in great company: among the readers will be actors Hector Elizondo and Mike Farrell; poets Gary Soto and Jose Montoya; community leaders Dolores Huerta and Salinas Mayor Anna Caballero; musician Dr. Loco; and writers Maxine Hong Kingston, Riane Eisler, James Houston, Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, Jack Kornfield, Meredith Maran, and WesScoop Nisker, and many more.


Want to know who’s appearing when?


To view the Program Schedule for the Emergency 24-Hour Read-In visit our website at www.salinasaction.org


MEDEA BENJAMIN in Salinas, Saturday April 2

Medea Benjamin is Founding Director of Global Exchange. For over twenty years, Medea has supported human rights and social justice struggles around the world.
Medea is a leading activist in the peace movement and helped bring together the groups forming the coalition United for Peace and Justice (see www.unitedforpeace.org/ ).

She is also the co-founder of Code Pink: Women for Peace, a women's group that has been organizing creative actions against the war and occupation of Iraq. CODEPINK is pushing for a reorientation of budget priorities in the US to focus on heath care, education and housing, not war. Code Pink now has over 100 chapters throughout the United States (see www.codepink4peace.org/ ).


DOLORES HUERTA in Salinas Saturday April 2

In 1962 Huerta and activist Cesar Chavez founded the organization that later became the United Farm Workers of America (UFW).


KEVIN DANAHER in Salinas Saturday April 2

Kevin Danaher is a veteran Human Rights Activist and co-founder of Global Exchange, author of many books and an accomplished public speaker, is Global Exchange's Director of Public Education.


Needed for the Library Read-In Saturday

1) Dr. Seuss hats or other funny hats for roving story tellers

2) 1 or 2 cash boxes

3) Homes with room for out-of-towners, who for whatever reason are not able to camp out at the library -- If you can help with any of these items, please contact the Salinas Action League ASAP. Contact MacGregor at mindful (at) redshift.com 754-5554


Also needed

If you have tables and/or chairs which you can bring to the event, please do so. Folding card tables would work great for many needs.

Make sure your items are securely labeled with your name and email address so we can return them to you.


Still needed for the Read-In

1) volunteer “go-fers� with wheels to run errands for the volunteers who are stuck on site

2) volunteer shuttle-buses (cars, vans, whatever) who can transport people from their cars at the firehouse on East Alisal to the Library on Williams and back again.

3) amateur photographers willing to take lots of pictures at the event and share the best with SAL

It looks like this event will be getting national attention. Let’s hope it sends the message to our State and Federal elected officials that PUBLIC LIBRARIES ARE ESSENTIAL FOR A HEALTHY DEMOCRACY. THEY MUST REMAIN OPEN.