[Hidden-tech] 86% of Franklin Law Library Shredded for 2¢/lb

[Lisa Hoag]

Hi Hidden Tech Folk,
This breaks my heart to tell this, but on On Feb. 6th, Feb. 7th, and
Feb. 14, 2017, three truck loads of books comprising 86% of the 200
year old law book collection of Franklin County Law Library, were
delivered to North Star Pulp and Paper in Springfield, MA and "hogged"
(shredded), for two cents a pound. Hundreds of books worth thousands
of dollars were destroyed. This has also already happened to other
county law libraries. These books belong to the People of
Massachusetts, and the law libraries are a constitutional right. Some
of these books were worth $7000 a set. There were books that were over
100 years old destroyed. Could you please help by signing this
petition, and calling your state rep, and state senator, and tell them
to stop shredding our
books immediately(there are contacts below)?
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/86-of-200-yr-old-franklin?source=c.em.cp&r_by=705402

I've been working with another citizen from Athol, to try to stop any
more books from being destroyed, and to restore the library. Please
forward this email to other folks if you could, especially folks in
Rep. Stephen Kulik's district, and Rep.
Paul Mark's district. I have written an expanded article on the Moveon
petition. But I will also paste the full article below. If anyone
would like to help us with this, even if only for an hour, please
contact me by email. There is also going to be a meeting with the
decision makers at the Trial Court responsible for shredding the
books, and we need to have some concerned citizens join us in
attending the meeting. Please let me know if you would be willing to
attend.

Petition:
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/86-of-200-yr-old-franklin?source=c.em.cp&r_by=705402

Sen. Stan Rosenberg
Boston Office: 617-722-1500
Northampton District Office: 413-584-1649
Email: stan.rosenberg at state.ma.us

Sen. Adam Hinds
Boston Office: 617-722-1625
District Office: 413-344-4561 or 413-768-2373
Email: adam.hinds at masenate.gov

Rep. Paul Mark
Boston Office: 617-722-2304
District Office: 413-464-5635
Email: paul.mark at mahouse.gov

Rep. Stephen Kulik
Boston Office: 617-722-2380
District Office: 413-977-3580
Email: stephen.kulik at mahouse.gov

Rep. Susannah Whipps-Lee
Boston Office: 617-722-2425
District Office: 978-895-9606
Email: susannah.whippslee at mahouse.gov

Thank you,
Best,
Lisa Hoag

Full text of our Moveon Petition:
On Feb. 6th, Feb. 7th, and Feb. 14, 2017, three truck loads of books
comprising 86% of the 200 year old law book collection of Franklin
County Law Library, were delivered to North Star Pulp and Paper in
Springfield, MA and "hogged" (shredded), for two cents a pound. These
books are the property of the People of Massachusetts. Hundreds of
books worth thousands of dollars were destroyed. This has already
happened to other county law libraries.

Please sign this petition. Tell your Legislators, the Governor, and
the Trial Courts that not one more single book should be destroyed by
those entrusted with the duty of protecting the law books of the
Citizens of Massachusetts. Also, please go the extra mile and
personally contact the governor, your state representative, and state
senator to say that no more of our books should be
destroyed, or removed from public access. (Contacts below).

Our Mass. Constitutional Right:
Public county law libraries are a Constitutional Right for all
Massachusetts Citizens. Article 11, of Part 1 of the Massachusetts
Constitution's "Declaration of Rights", states that "Every subject of
the Commonwealth ought to find a certain remedy, by having recourse to
the laws, for all injuries or wrongs which he may receive in his
person, property, or character. He ought to obtain right and justice
freely, and without being obligated to purchase it; completely, and
without delay; conformably to the laws." The county law libraries are
the means of keeping that promise, that no citizen be required to
purchase legal advice. Did you know that any citizen has the right to
use a county law library, and that a law librarian is always there to
help them look up the law pertaining to any case or legal matter.
Although a law librarian can not offer legal advice, they can help any
citizen to do their own research, and educate themselves about the
legal issue that concerns them.

Franklin Law Library is the 4th oldest county law library in
Massachusetts, founded in 1816. These books represent 200 years of the
thought and experience of our most learned practitioners of the law,
people who devoted their lives to the wise interpretation and defense
of our Constitutional Rights, some of whom lived at the time our US
and Massachusetts Constitutions were written. Many of these books were
over 100 years old. Some sets of books were worth anywhere from $2000
to $7000. Many books were worth $550 and more. They are irreplaceable.
These books are the living memory of how our constitution was
interpreted a century ago, before our constitutional rights had become
so eroded that they are now no longer being properly enforced. If We
the People are to rescue our Constitutional Rights, it is essential to
preserve the memory of the correct interpretation of our Constitution,
which is accurately recorded in these books.

I am simply a citizen, but the former Franklin Law Library was a place
I loved. It was, to me, the most beautiful historical architectural
space of all the local county law libraries; a perfect, magical "Harry
Potter" library, with rows upon rows of 20 foot tall book shelves, a
200 year old collection or books. There were marble floors, and big
oak panel doors, with solid old oak tables, and a wonderful law
librarian, who was delighted to see a citizen come to the library to
use the books. It felt like walking back 100 years in time, to a time
and place where it was still treated as an honor to be a citizen.

With the court renovation, it was promised that the library would be
housed in two floors of the new modern wing of the courthouse. It was
not revealed until the courthouse reopened, on February 6th of this
year, that the library was kicked out of the bottom floor, and moved
into a tiny upstairs space whose floor was not constructed to support
the weight of books. The book shelves in the new space can only be
three feet high. The law library has gone from its original treasure
of 4000 linear feet of books to 700 linear feet, and from an
incredibly beautiful space, to a mundane modern office space.

Franklin Law Library is not the first library to have its books
destroyed. Last year, New Bedford, and Fitchburg's law libraries were
eliminated. Lawrence has lost 25% of its collection. We are still
assessing how many thousands of law books have been destroyed across
the state. We have heard that there is an intention to continue future
shreddings of books in the rest of the county law libraries, if this
is not stopped.

If armed gunmen had entered the Franklin Law Library, and destroyed
86% of the books, it would have been on the cover of every newspaper
in the country. But when the trial court administration - the legal
custodians whose responsibility it is to protect our precious historic
law books, violate the public trust by destroying our books, barely a
whisper is heard.

We have been told that these books are now available online. But they
are not. The vast majority of books that have been pulped, were NOT
digitized. They were simply destroyed. Furthermore, it is neither
feasible nor practical to consult books which are in many cases 750 -
1000+ pages long, by clicking on them one page at a time, with no
means to search the contents. It is often necessary, for research, to
be able to reference several books at once, each of whose contents
informs the others. As I have told this story to groups of people in
one community after another, the common consensus is clear. It is fine
to be able to access the books on line, but we still need to preserve
the original books. People want the right to work with the physical
books. Having access to the originals is also the only way to ensure
that parts of these books have been neither removed, nor abridged.
Furthermore, there is a growing silent epidemic of people who are
experiencing computer-related repetitive stress injuries from
excessive computer use, as we are forced to do more and more things
online that we used to do in other ways. Finally, removing the
physical copies of the books removes the constitutional rights of
citizens who don't have access to, or can't afford, a computer or
internet access.

These books are the property of the People of Massachusetts. They are
the legacy of wise jurisprudence, bequeathed to us by our forebears,
and they belong to all past, present and future generations of
Massachusetts Citizens. For generations, these books were carefully
protected, and handed down for the benefit of all future generations.
Now, one generation of custodians of the Citizens' books, has decided
that they can destroy these books, throughout all the county law
libraries, without consulting us, and deny all present, and future
generations of Massachusetts Citizens, their Constitutional Right to
consult this extraordinarily precious collection of law books, which
comprise one of the most crucial assets of the Shared Common Wealth of
the People of Massachusetts.

As Citizens, we are actually the most important branch of government.
All the other branches of government are the public servants of the
Citizens of Massachusetts, but it is our particular responsibility, as
Citizens, to ensure that our Constitution continues to be honored in
spirit and in letter, on behalf of ourselves, all our neighbors, and
the future generations of our People. Please helps us protect and
preserve the legacy of our historic law books.

Please sign this petition, and also, please go the extra mile and
personally contact your legislators, the governor, the trial court
administrators and your daily newspaper, and tell them that no more of
our books should be destroyed, now or in the future.

Sincerely,
Lisa Hoag

Governor Charles Baker
Boston Office: 617-725-4005
Email: GOffice at state.ma.us

Sen. Stan Rosenberg
Boston Office: 617-722-1500
Northampton District Office: 413-584-1649
Email: stan.rosenberg at state.ma.us

Sen. Adam Hinds
Boston Office: 617-722-1625
District Office: 413-344-4561 or 413-768-2373
Email: adam.hinds at masenate.gov

Rep. Paul Mark
Boston Office: 617-722-2304
District Office: 413-464-5635
Email: paul.mark at mahouse.gov

Rep. Stephen Kulik
Boston Office: 617-722-2380
District Office: 413-977-3580
Email: stephen.kulik at mahouse.gov

Rep. Susannah Whipps-Lee
Boston Office: 617-722-2425
District Office: 978-895-9606
Email: susannah.whippslee at mahouse.gov

John Merrigan Franklin County Register of Probate:
Registers Office: 413-774-7011
43 Hope Street
Greenfield, MA 01302,
P.O. Box 590
Greenfield, MA 01302-0590

Attorney General Maura Healey:
Boston: 617-727-2200
Springfield: 413-784-1240
Email: AGO at state.ma.us

Chief Justice Ralph D. Gants
Supreme Judicial Court
John Adams Courthouse
One Pemberton Square, Suite 2500
Boston, MA  02108
Phone: 617-557-1000

Harry Spence
Court Administrator;
and
Paula M. Carey
Chief Justice of the Trial Court
Executive Office of the Trial Court
One Pemberton Square
Boston, MA 02108
Phone: 617-742-8575

Maria Fournier, Esq.
Director of Support Services, Office of Court Management,
Massachusetts Trial Court
Phone: 617-742-8575

Sheriece Perry
Law Library Administrator, Senior Manager of the Department of Support
Services of the Massachusetts Trial Court
sheriece.perry at jud.state.ma.us
Phone: 617-788-3575

Elizabeth Bouvier, Head of Archives
Division of Archives and Records Preservation
Phone: 617-557-1083 or 617-557-1082
Email: Elizabeth.Bouvier at sjc.state.ma.us

George Forcier
Editor - The Greenfield Recorder
Phone: 413-772-0261 ext. 250
Email: gforcier at recorder.com


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