[Libri] Writers appeal to save Center for the Book

[Andy Anderson]

Writers appeal to save Center for the Book

http://www.gazettenet.com/Baker-cuts-funding-for-state-book-center-3441818

Valley writers are protesting Gov. Charlie Baker’s veto of funding for a state book program, saying the move will save little money and will hurt efforts to promote literature and literacy across the commonwealth.

Baker’s decision to defund the Massachusetts Center for the Book, formerly located in the Valley, would also leave Massachusetts as the only state in the country without such a center, supporters say.

…

“Mostly is it bad economics and incredibly shortsighted,” [Michaelson] wrote in an email. “The amount of money that the Book Arts bring into communities and the state is substantial.”

The center had been located in the Valley — first at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, then at Hampshire College and in Northampton — from 2000 until 2008, when it moved to free space made available at Simmons College in Boston. Begun as a collaborative organization that included funding from Five Colleges Inc., today it is a public-private partnership.

 ….

[Yolen] added that the center has been in contact with leaders of the state Legislature about this issue. A vote to override Baker’s veto requires a two-thirds majority.
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