Good Morning, Trenton!

Okay.
In case you're one of my readers from another state, here's what's going on in New Jersey.
Governor Christie is turning state funding up on its head. In a way, I think it is great. I'm all for listening to his proposals, especially when it is clear that he is looking to reduce a deficit and bring this state back to fiscal sense. But of course, there's two hot button issues that affect me directly, that I want to know more about. One is cutting state aid to local schools. The other is reducing state aid by 74% to New Jersey's libraries. You can read more about it here. After speaking with my local librarian, it seems that this will have a domino effect: funds that they thought would be coming from the state to meet needs will now have to come from local government, donations, etc. I use our library and its systems often. As a parent, we're there at least twice a month getting books, audio CDs, tapes, and DVDs. Sometimes we go for storytime or special programs. As a graduate student, the inter-library loan system is efficient and instrumental (especially for my area of study).
All this leads up to the following: the NJLA held a rally outside the State House Annex on Thursday, and I decided to attend. I wanted to learn more about what was going on and to show my support for our fantastic librarians.
But these kids aren't standing in front of a library, are they?
No. But the State Library is right next door ;)
We had gotten there early enough that we had a chance to walk around downtown. Can't say that it was overly exciting. Trenton is a city that is past its prime and will probably never go back. Which is a shame. Very much a forgotten capital. Great location, amazing history... but a dead-zone.
For those of you who did not know, the name Trenton actually means the town by the river Trent. (English)
Totally appropriate for my firstborn, who started his exit from the womb in a swimming pool, came out too quickly for a water birth, and now calls the seashore his second home...

So, if you are hanging out in downtown Trenton on a Thursday morning, why not check out the State Museum? It's free. And open early. And best? DINOSAURS!!!!!!

All I had to do was mention the dinosaur fossils, and he was jumping in the car, ready to go.


Oliver kept pointing to this one, dangling from the ceiling, and yelling "Bird!!!"
When he saw the T-Rex, he immediately said "GRRRROWWWL!" But he wouldn't go within three feet of the box. Neither of them would. Ha!

Below, they climb on a huge rock with a fossil footprint... it is right near T's head. See it?
They had a nice section on the history of Trenton (as evidenced in the battle scene above... I cannot WAIT until he is old enough to really understand the history of our great state... I get all giddy just thinking about it! Historian nerd blogger, right here!!!) There was also a room with pottery by a NJ artist (we did not break any pieces, thank you very much) and an entire exhibit devoted to Native American shoes. Cool.


And then there was the rally. We were told to wear red, which we did. There was coverage of the rally (you can read about it here, and watch a bit of it here), but not extensive. But very well organized. You can tell that a lot of people care, and do want their voices heard. Hopefully, the state congressmen were listening, and can take some of these issues up with the Governor and his new budget proposal.

Above, Trenton sits near a chalk drawing he did of the word "Library". There was a great photographer out and about that day. If you have a chance, look here and here for FANTASTIC pictures of the kids. I was very glad that I went and brought them. Trenton and I had a discussion about what a rally was and why the people were there. We brought several library books and read them together. Mostly, they raced cars and ate snacks. And Ollie fell and scraped his knee. But the two of them brought a lot of smiles and inspiration to the organizers, and for that, I'm happy. :)