Before I leave John Conrad and Jack London, Mark Twain, Jules Vern and the other novelists that provided adventures for me as a kid...

I want to thank my parents... Mom and Dad,
who valued books and reading. There were shelves of books and magazines in my house. They lay about on tables and sometimes chairs. BOTH of them read to us when we were little. MUCH of what I learned came from reading those books and other books that came later.

As a classroom teacher I have given hundreds of books away to my students... to those that would take a book. It still surprises me how often students simply turn down a free book. And the trend is towards more and more students turning down a free book. THEY are not a generation of readers.

When asked to bring a book to read after finishing the TAKS Test this week ... most just wanted to listen to their ipod or text their friends on their cell phones.

THIS RECESSION has filled our public libraries with a potential NEW GENERATION of READERS. Let's not close the public libraries in cities to this generation.

More and more cities and counties are facing cut-backs in budget funding that means cuts in public services.

Let the budget cut fall somewhere else.
Do not close our public libraries today.
Not ever.

FD

As the bumper sticker says:
If you can read this. Thank a teacher.

to which I add: Thank a parent that reads to their kids.