access for all

I grew up in New Jersey but later lived over 20 years on the west coast. While in San Francisco, I was able to make use of the entire branch system, searching for materials on the internet and having them sent to my local branch. When I moved back to NJ five years ago, I was so glad to see that Morris County had developed a similar system for member libraries. I have a Jefferson card but actually am able to use the Dover library much more conveniently. The Dover staff have been wonderful (as have those at Jefferson when I go there).

My husband recently became BLIND. Without the services of the NJ State Library Talking Book and Braille Center he would have no way to fill the empty hours since he can no longer read. I do not know how anyone with a conscience can take away these services from the blind. We are senior citizens and he has so many hours that will be empty and the thoughts of this is devastating. Multiply this by the large number of Blind Persons in NJ. Bernice, Belvidere

"My parents were honest, poor, working folk: my beloved mother, a Southern Christian transplant earned her living cleaning and scrubbing floors in homes of affluent families from West Orange and Livingston. My beloved father, also a Southern transplant, who dropped out of school and had to pick tobacco in the hot fields of North Carolina.