Dear Council Members Kevin Faulconer and Donna Frye: I and all of my friends are very upset at the proposal to close some of our library branches. I am a frequent patron of both the Ocean Beach and Clairemont branches, both of which are targeted for closure. Don’t do this! In this time of “No Child Left Behind” it is unbelievable that Mayor Jerry Sanders would even consider hindering access to a primary source of learning. Perhaps he has listened to people who say libraries are out of date and no one uses them anymore. Untrue! Every day you can see people lined up waiting for the library to open. Mayor Sanders may feel that people have all the knowledge they can use available via computers. Well, guess what, even if this were true, not everyone can afford a computer. In these tough economic times, that is not a purchase that many people can afford. Many people depend on their local library as their only source for Internet access. Visit a library and see how many people sign up every day to use the computers. Senior citizens also depend on their neighborhood libraries. Many of them can no longer drive. They are able to walk to their branches, but would not be able to get to a branch in another neighborhood. They depend on libraries even as a means to read newspapers and magazines. Libraries provide so many services to the community. Story hours and summer reading programs for children are a wonderful introduction to the world of books and a love of reading that will last a lifetime. The Ocean Beach Library has served the community for 80 years and the Clairemont Branch for 50 years. Do you really want to be the ones to close them down? Please, don’t do this. Surely there is another way to cut expenses. I am not in favor of any more cuts in library hours, as it is already tough for those of us who are employed to work around the reduced hours. However, as a last resort, might you consider closing each library one day a week? At least this would not take them away completely and would still result in a considerable savings. At my last visit to the library the librarian said it was time to update my information. When she had finished, she said, “That will be good for two years.” I said, “If we have any libraries left by then.” Please don’t make that dire prediction come true. Libraries change lives! Thank you for your help.