Update: At the April 13^th Special Budget meeting of the City Council, Seattle’’s Department of Finance was presenting potential changes to the 2009-2010 allocation of Real Estate Excise Tax (REET) Revenues. The potential impact to the Seattle Public Library is a two thirds reduction to the capital budget. The Library’s capital budget pays for major maintenance. The Friends are very concerned about the effects of the severe capital budget cuts being considered.  From Jennifer at Friends of Library, 

I’m happy to let you know that our own fabulous Queen Anne Books is hosting a petition from now until closing time at 5:30 pm on Sunday.  I’ll be taking that petition and many others to the Monday, April 20th Special Budget meeting at 10:30am.

Last week we urged Queen Anne residents to stop by the Queen Anne Library to sign a petition to preserve funding for the Seattle Public Libraries.  We received an email from Jennifer Johnson-Fong, Friends of The Seattle Public Library, Vice President, who excitedly reported that she was on her way down to City Hall yesterday morning for the special budget meeting.  She was going to present the petition from Queen Anne to the Council.  68 signatures in two hours!  A posting from the Friends of Library follows,

I got to connect with people who really appreciated that I was there volunteering to help them raise their voice in support of The Seattle Public Library. I saw patrons of every age today, and really that’s what libraries are about — they are about all people enriching their lives.

We’ve asked Jennifer to keep us updated!