Every once in a while the news presents a story that makes you feel good...
The Marion (FL) County Commissioners recently voted to eliminate funding for a library program that taught reading skills to children 3 and under titled "Zero to Three". A program that is partially federally funded, a county investment of $22,000 would have qualified for $40,000 in federal funds.
The near sighted county commissioners, always looking to save a buck, questioned whether this was an appropriate program for a library!
Follow below the fold for the tale of Stan and Martha Hanson, who have offerered to provide the missing funding.
Retirees Stan and Martha Hanson have offered to provide the funding necessary to secure the matching government funding for the program and allow it to continue.
I encourage you to follow the link to the story from Ocala to read why the Hanson's believe in the importance of library reading programs.
In this day and age when corporations and wealthy individuals are willing to spend tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to affect our political system, I find it particuarly heartwarming to read about this couple that is willing to step forward to try and save a library program.
Library programs and education programs seem to be the first line of cuts in the right-wing dash to gut government spending. They seem to forget that for many, like myself, it was our public school system and our public libraries that gave us our thirst for knowledge and opened our eyes to the wonders of the universe.
I worry about how future generations are going to discover such things.