Oline Cogdill
 
We all know that libraries – along with the arts and social services – are in trouble. City and county budgets are being slashed around the country.
 
Desperate times require action and some authors are taking matters into their own hands with the Save the Libraries event.
 
Honorary chair Karin Slaughter (Broken) along with Mary Kay Andrews (Hissy Fit) and Kathryn Stockett (The Help) are teaming up with businesses and donors to offer an array of items to be auctioned off. All proceeds will go directly to the DeKalb County Public Library Foundation in Georgia.
 
For more information, visit http://savethelibraries.com/.
 
A cross-section of authors is offering up for bidding character names along with signed books. You can have your name – or even your pet’s name – in an upcoming novel by, among others, Lee Child, Lisa Unger, Mark Billingham, Alafair Burke, Mary Jane Clark and Mo Hayder. There is also a nice selection of signed books and the chance to get an advanced copy of your favorite author’s work before it is released. More items are being added.
 
You can also bid on a trip to New York City to have lunch with an editor at Bantam and a literary agent; a chance to have Kate Elton, publisher and editorial director at Random House U.K ., read your manuscript and offer an editorial letter; an evaluation of your work by a professional screenwriter. You can even bid on having lunch with Karin Slaughter in Amsterdam – you have to get there on your own but she promises to pick up the lunch tab.
 
These items will be up for auction through March 12.
 
The website is at www.savethelibraries.com and the Facebook page is at
www.facebook.com/savethelibraries.
 
Join these authors, open up your wallets, and help save the libraries. Even if all you can afford is a T-shirt, every dollar counts.
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