Letters from the Schoolchildren of Salinas

Dear Mayor Caballero,

"Isn’t it sad to think that a famous writer, John Steinbeck, lived in this town, wrote about this town and we won’t have a library to hold the books that he wrote? When you think of Steinbeck, you think of books, and when you think of books, you think of libraries. But when you think of libraries, you won’t think of Salinas. Without libraries, kids will not read as much and get bored, resulting in crime. They will watch more television and play more video games. If kids don’t read, they may not do as well in school." --Abigail

"You shouldn’t close the libraries because if the house is too noisy to do homework, you could always do it at the library. If we have to search for something and we don’t have a computer, we could always go to the library." --Brian

"Kids can have a lot of fun inside the libraries. Kids can be more successful in life by going to the libraries. They can stay off the streets. They will not be in gangs, or in dangerous positions." --Juan

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http://www.savesalinaslibraries.org/letters.html

Sad letters. I'm always amazed at how much smarter children are than adults.