Dear Editor,
When I moved to Colusa County in 1988, I was mentally broken. I had no money and no job. I was nearly homeless. I lived in a broken-down trailer with no A/C and minimal heating.
The Colusa County Free Library saved my life!
I started going to the library every day to get out of the heat/cold. The library was a safe place for me to go. I could read. I could relax. I could think.
Nobody judged me. Nobody asked me to pay. Nobody asked me to leave. It was so important to have a safe place to mentally rest.
Eventually, I worked my way out of depression and had a great career with the County of Colusa.
Now that I am retired, I travel the US and visit libraries. Oh my, the things a library can do if they had the funding!
Libraries are more than books. Actually, I am writing this letter to the editor on the library computer. Here is a list of some services your library does. For adults: puzzles and games, English conservation hour, literacy tours, County prison library, history research digital literacy classes, and more. For kids: puzzles, games and legos, Raising a Reader, summer reading camp, story time, STEAM, and Dia de los Ninos celebration. For everyone: computers, printer and photocopier, stargazing kits, and Library State Park Day passes.
Libraries are about freedom. Freedom to read, freedom of ideas, freedom of communication. They are about education, about making safe spaces and about access to information.
Thank you,
Gerry Hernandez
Colusa, CA