To the editor:

When I was a kid living in Chicago, the only entertainment I had came from reading-reading saved my sanity and my imagination.

I used to ride the bus to our closest library. Or, I walked six blocks to a mobile library truck and hauled home as many bound treasures as my bicycle basket could hold. Overdue books used to cost a nickle, yes, a nickle a day, and this was over 50 years ago.

When I got to Langley in the late ’70s, I was shocked to find out that here, in Langley’s Sno-Isle Library, I would pay no overdue fines. I wondered how our little library survived. Then I watched the wonderful library annex be built, and saw it filled with children of all ages who experienced the same magic and wonderment from the stories on its shelves that I experienced.

I’ve seen our island libraries continue to be a marvelous resource, keeping up with the information age with the addition of computers. I know several people who don’t own computers and rely on the library’s to keep them connected to their e-mail, to the world and to provide them with research tools.

In these tough economic times, the libraries on the island are being used more than ever, for books, movies, kids programs and research. In order to keep these resources available to us, the library levy must pass. Without the levy our libraries will be open fewer hours and have less funds for the books, movies, programs that so many of us rely upon.

Please vote yes on the library levy, Nov. 3.

Leah Green

Langley