People Need Libraries More Than Ever; Don’t Cut Them Off

"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.  These honest folk met, married, and had six children of which I am the eldest. We resided near the Springfield Branch of the Newark Public Library in the Hayes Homes Housing Development.

"On any given Saturday, my mother would take us to the Springfield Branch Library at 50 Hayes Street until she retrieved us in the early afternoon. The head librarian, Mr. Lewis V. Graves, encouraged us to read, imagine, learn, and achieve. He made us feel like VIP’s.

"Mr. Graves told me that the world was ours to conquer and not to fear. He never spoke of defeat.  So my brothers and sisters and I read and dreamed in the stacks.

"My brothers stayed in touch with Mr. Graves well beyond college, marriage, and fatherhood until his death. Mr. Graves was a strong inspiration for boys.

"When I became a mother, I carried my girls to the Library to share my love of books with them.  One was a student writer and had her first works published in the eighth grade. She is my 'dark' child having nurtured a love for Edgar Allen Poe and William Shakespeare, both of whom she regularly recited in her sleep during her adolescence. To this day, she directs a summer enrichment program for youth and literacy is a strong component of that program. My other young ladies are earning their certifications to open child care centers filled with books.

"The library was an oasis and a lifeline for our family, as it is for today’s youth.  Shuttering the library and reducing hours is not only cruel but indefensible.  The only lifeline that Newarkers have is a well-run library.

"The library also offers programs and opportunities to give back. You see, I am a co-founder of a SAT preparation program operating out of the Springfield Branch of the Newark Public Library: the High School Academic Support Program. We also host college fairs, financial aid nights, and college information sessions at the branch. The students not only come from Newark and Essex County, but also from Union, Hudson, and Monmouth Counties.

"I urge you to restore FULL funding so that services can be maintained, if not increased. This one stop shop must continue to provide services ranging from helping residents write resumes, job hunt, prepare taxes, rovide homework assistance for school aged children, college students, and adults returning to school, increase literacy levels, provide family friendly performances, register citizens to vote, “browse” and be an oasis for reflection by users like me. It would be irresponsible to reduce and/or shutter libraries --  the lifeline for many a resident."

Wilhelmina, Parent and Very Concerned Citizen
Newark