I received an email this week, marked “Plea for the library” on the subject line – perhaps you found it in your inbox, too. It originated with Karen Blumenthal, award-winning author, former Wall Street Journal bureau chief and member of the board of directors of the Friends of the Dallas Public Library.

Blumenthal warned that “the City of Dallas is trying to balance its budget by cutting even more from our once top-notch library system,” slashing 40% in 4 years. With this year’s planned $1.4 million in reductions, she says, we’ll spend “far less than any major city in the nation” on our libraries – less, even, than Fort Worth.

“With circulation up,” she added, “that means already long waiting lists for books and DVDs will grow longer. More jobs will be eliminated, meaning magazines and books won’t get shelved, lines will be longer and programs will be cut back. Those who rely on the library for access to computers, the Internet or job information will continue to be restricted to the limited hours that the branches and the downtown library are open.”

It’s a shame, she said, because our libraries are well-run and much-used. “People are waiting in line when the doors are open.” The budget is half what it should be for a city our size, she argued.

“If you want to live in an education, informed and equitable community,” she reasoned, “if you want to live in a city that cares about education and knowledge for all its citizens, if you think a well-run city has a responsibility to support a strong library system, then you need to let the city know.”

You can contact Mayor Mike Rawlings, your favorite councilman and other folks at City Hall via this link. You can join Friends of the Dallas Public Library here. You can track Dallas’ library spending via Blumenthal’s charts on the Dallas Observer Blog here.

“Apparently,” wrote Blumenthal, “the mayor and the city council will respond only if people complain.”

Kidville, the newest hotspot for neighborhood kids, is beginning a fall education series, which is open to the community. The first event kicks off at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 27, featuring guest speaker Pete Stavinoha leading a program on stress-free potty training.

Events continue throughout the season:

9 a.m. Oct 4: Overcoming picky eater challenges

9 a.m. Oct. 19: How to find the right pre-elementary program

5:30 p.m. Nov. 2: Ashley Parks, author of “The Saving Seed: Growing a Financially Healthy Family Tree”

Admission to each program is $10 and free for Kidville members. Reservations are required. Call the front desk at 214.378.7777.

As Dallas ISD searches for its new superintendent, Distrct 1 School Board Trustee Edwin Flores hosts a community forum at 7 p.m. Sept. 19 at Midway Hills Christian Church to receive feedback from parents and neighbors about what they want from the position.

Flores will present the current information on the search and then take questions and comments from the group. The event is free and open to everyone.

It’s a new year at Hillcrest High School, and that means new representation on the Student Council. Here’s a look at the 2011-2012 StuCo members.

They are all seniors: Ruben Sixtos, president; Juan Anaya, vice president; Xochilt Mendoza, secretary; America Mendoza and Emily Gayle Lewis, both senior senators.

Hillcrest will have its first pep rally of the year at 3:30 p.m. Friday, and “it should be wild,” says Amie Moyer, parent and leader of the Site Based Decision Making Committee.

So, come on out to support the Panthers.

The Catholic Foundation has selected Sister Margaret Ann Moser, O.S.U. to receive the 30th Catholic Foundation Award during a special dinner reception this spring.

Sister Margaret Ann is president of the Ursuline Academy and is the school’s longest-serving leader. She attended Ursuline herself and has been president since 1989.

At Ursuline, she led the $10 million capital campaign from 1993-2000 to fund campus expansion and improvements, including the Jane Neuhoff Athletic Center and the Ursuline Center for Performing Arts. She has directed the Academy through a $22 million campus renewal, including construction of The French Family Science, Math, and Technology Center and new music building, as well as significant growth in endowments.

“Ursuline Academy of Dallas and our broader Catholic community have greatly benefited from the selfless service, dedication and wisdom of Sister Margaret Ann,” says Edwin M. Schaffer, Catholic Foundation president and CEO.  “Under her leadership, Ursuline has seen great achievements in infrastructure, enrollment and parental involvement, and her example has left a lasting impression on countless Ursuline graduates. Her commitment to the community extends far beyond the school as well.”

The award dinner is set for Feb. 10 at the InterContinental Dallas.

Has anyone visited Dallas ISD’s website lately? It was completely redesigned, and looks pretty snazzy. The website is much more user-friendly and clutter-free, and its information is more accessible than the former version — you can look up and download lunch menus from the home page, and finding information about applying to magnet schools won’t make you want to rip your hair out.

According DISD spokesman Jon Dahlander, the new website also will allow each school to build its own pages, complete with photos, announcements, calendars, etc., which the previous site would not allow. Check out the pages for Preston Hollow Elementary, W.T. White High School and Hillcrest High School.

“We will be training an individual from each campus so that they can add all of their own information, including photos and emails of teachers and staff,” Dahlander says. “It is flexible enough for each campus to add what they want.”

From left: Holly Engelmann, Brittney Lightfoot, Jonathan Dupard, Gary Eden, Val De Fex, Jenna McCoppin, and Chuck Walker at the scholarship presentation ceremony (Courtesy photo)

The McKool Smith law firm awarded scholarships to four Dallas-area students, including Jenna McCoppin of W.T. White High School. The students, who are recent high school graduates, received the funds through The First Tee of Dallas, a nonprofit scholars program that uses the game of golf to promote success in academics and life skills.

McCoppin received $1,500 to help with her first year of tuition at the college of her choice.

When yellow school buses start rolling down neighborhood streets next weeks, residents might see a local insurance agent waving to them from the window — via an advertisement. Advertising seems to be everywhere these days — in the margins of Facebook, on the walls of moving billboards, in the wells of urinals (Disturbing? Yes.) and now, on the sides of school buses.

For almost a year, Dallas County school districts, including Dallas ISD, have participated in a program run by Alpha Media that offers school bus advertising to local and national businesses. Here’s how it works: Companies purchase one ad per bus, which is placed above the windows on either side of the bus or below the windows on the driver’s side, and school districts receive 66 percent of revenue from ad sales.

“It is a true win-win for all involved,” says Michael Beauchamp, president and CEO of Alpha Media.

The average ad rate is $230 a month per bus, Beauchamp says. Advertisers tell Alpha Media the areas they want to target, and “we find out which buses hit that area and place their ads on those buses,” he says. There’s no way to support an individual school, however; the 66 percent ad revenue goes directly to the school district.

A majority of the advertisers so far are dentists, banks, restaurants, real estate agents, homebuilders, colleges and universities, insurance agents and car dealers — a list Beauchamp believes will only grow longer.

“We started with mainly local businesses who wanted 10 to 15 ads,” he says. “Now, we are seeing larger advertisers coming on board wanting 100 or more.”

The program has been so successful, Beauchamp says, that he foresees advertisements on every school bus someday, “especially with the larger corporations coming on board,” he says.

Two of the major moms groups in the neighborhood are gearing up for the new preschool year, hosting their member round-ups next week.

The North Dallas Early Childhood PTA’s event is 9-11 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 16 at Walnut Hill Recreation Center. The first general meeting is at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 1 at Cochran Chapel United Methodist Church.

The Preston Hollow Early Childhood Association holds its membership drive at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 17 at the Bookmarks library inside NorthPark Center. The first general meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Aug. 23 at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church.

Both groups are open to mothers with preschool aged children, offering playgroups, moms’ night out, book clubs, children’s activities and monthly meetings. Children do not have to be enrolled in preschool. Both groups require annual dues of $35.

Editor Rachel Stone reports over on the Lakewood blog that Kyle Richardson has been named the new principal at Woodrow Wilson High School since Ruth Vail left to pursue a doctorate degree. That, of course, means Richardson will no longer be at the helm of Marsh Middle School.

The new school year will start with Luz Lozano serving as interim principal. She had been filling in at Woodroow up until this time.

It’s no surprise that Woodrow grabbed Richardson up. Marsh had many successes under his watch. From Stone’s report:

Marsh has maintained a “Recognized” rating from the Texas Education Agency since 2009, with 946 of 1,056 students meeting at least the minimum standard on the Texas Assessment of Academic Knowledge and Skills last year. The school was rated “Academically Acceptable” from 2004-2008. “Recognized” is the second-highest rating, and “Academically Acceptable” is the third-highest.

Marsh also meets the TEA’s Adequate Yearly Progress standard, which Woodrow missed in 2011 and several years previously. To meet AYP, schools must have 80 percent of their students pass the TAAKS and achieve either a 90 percent attendance rate or a 75 percent graduation rate, depending on which grades they serve.

“It’s a really good thing for Woodrow, and I think the community is going to like him a great deal, and he will fit in very nicely at that school,” DISD spokesperson Jon Dahlander says. “He has a keen eye on academics, so there will be a big focus on academics at Woodrow. That’s long been a tradition at Woodrow, and that will continue.”

Dahlander says parents asked for Richardson when principal slots opened at Hillcrest and W.T. White, but Richardson declined because he said he still had work to finish at Marsh.