Books and libraries have given my life so much joy and meaning. One of my core childhood memories was riding my bike with my brother to Woburn Public Library in the summer and checking out books and every musical the library had on offer (my favorite was My Fair Lady). As an adult, I live in Maynard and watch my nieces carry on the family love of reading and I also how much they love all the activities the library puts on for kids in the community. The pandemic introduced me to ebooks from Libby, which were so vital during that time, and I wouldn’t survive my daily 2 hour commute without audiobooks. Last summer, the library was a lifesaver after I had surgery and couldn’t walk for months. I read through the entire Neapolitan Quartet, I, Claudius, Pale Fire, Doctor Zhivago, a history of the Reformation, and so many other wonderful books during that time. Libraries are a vital, necessary, and essential part of my life and my community, and librarians do so so much unsung work in their communities, from showing people how to access things on the internet to providing a free space for parents to bring their children. There are so few community spaces around these days. Please help us preserve this one. We need it.

I started visiting the south Attleboro branch library when my children went to Hill Roberts school and when that closed went to the Attleboro branch. Now that I am wheel chair bound I use my computer to get books online and to order large print books which my daughter picks up for me each week at the library. I read constantly, sometimes 3 books at a time. I don't know what I would do without my library.

I go to college in Amherst and, while I love my college, it's fiction selection is limited. The Jones Library has given me access to the books I'd have at my hometown library. It gives me a reason to get off campus and see something that isn't the concrete and bricks builds I'm constantly surrounded by. I've borrowed so many of my course books, as an English major, through this library, saving me hundreds of dollars in just a couple years. The library truly is a life saver for me.

Attleboro Public Library has given me so much in the years I've lived here. It allowed me to explore books to my heart's content from kindergarten onward. It gave me the volunteer hours I needed to join the National Honors Society and graduate high school. It's even given me a quiet place to finish my final essays at the end of each college semester, away from the distractions at home. The library has always been my place to escape and find some peace and quiet when I've needed it. It allowed me to work on my social anxiety through exposure therapy in high school. The library has been so many things for me over the years and as someone pursuing an English degree, I can't imagine who I'd be without it. I'm really hoping, one day, a book or two I've written will end up on those shelves and someone else will find solace there like I have for so long.

The library made me into a reader. It helped open my world view, made me empathetic and encouraged my curiosity. I also believe the library played a vital role in pushing me to become an English Language Arts teacher so I could foster a love of reading and books in the next generation, just like library did for me!

There is so much to love about public libraries: the vast topics that can be learned about, programming, and fostering multi-generational time. Inter-library loans brings all the books in the region to me. Plus Libby is one more learning method