25 signatures reached
To: County Executive Brenton Davis, and County Council members and Gannon
Keep Our Library Public SAVE BLASCO!
Stand With Us Against Misuse of Public Resources
Keep Our Library Public (KOLP) has filed a legal complaint in the Erie County Court of Common Pleas to prevent 3200 square feet of Blasco Erie County Public Library in Erie County, PA from being leased to a tax-exempt, private, religious university.
Keep Our Library Public (KOLP) has filed a legal complaint in the Erie County Court of Common Pleas to prevent 3200 square feet of Blasco Erie County Public Library in Erie County, PA from being leased to a tax-exempt, private, religious university.
- Reconnect with us and get updates and ask others to sign our petition at https://www.fightforthefirst.org/petitions/keep-our-library-public
- Read the lawsuit we filed (trial set for December 1-3) to Stop Brenton Davis and Gannon from taking public space in the Blasco Library. https://keepourlibrarypublic.com/faqs/#why-are-we-suing-the-county-executive
- Watch our documentary Save Blasco!
- Please DONATE to support our lawsuit:
Donations here https://www.fundlibraries.org/erie are tax deductible - 90% to KOLP and 10% to Every Library to help libraries across the country
OR - You can kick it old school by mailing a check to Keep Our Library Public; PO Box 8361; Erie PA 16505. Donations here are not tax-deductible. 100% goes to KOLP
Why is this important?
Erie County Executive Brenton Davis and some members of the County Council have wrongly entered into a lease agreement with Gannon University, a private, religious, tax-exempt institution without input or approval from taxpayers. The lease grants Gannon the takeover of 3200 square feet as well as access to substantial portions of the only public library located within the City of Erie—the Raymond M. Blasco Memorial Library.
Members and supporters of “Keep our Library Public” (KOLP) span all ages, genders, incomes, backgrounds, and political affiliations. We live and pay taxes in municipalities throughout Erie County. We believe our elected officials should carry out their official duties openly, responsibly, and with reasonable input from their constituents—the residents and taxpayers of Erie County.
But over and over again, our elected officials, the Bishop of the Erie Diocese, and the Gannon University administration, have ignored the voices of library users and hardworking taxpayers. The past County Council Chairman denied our right to speak at a December 2023 public meeting, and even had people removed from that meeting.
Sign and share this petition to tell our elected leaders and Gannon to listen to taxpayers, keep our public library public, and cancel the lease immediately.