Library Cutbacks

* I am very concerned about the cutbacks that are being made to the library system. The libraries--which account for only a small fraction of the general budget and yet offer so much to our community--have had their budget cut so severely that they do not have money for new books and plan to close several days a week.

When other countries with totalitarian governments restrict libraries and reading and when we see, as in Bosnia, the bombing of libraries which contain rare documents, it is unbelievable to witness the destruction of our own libraries--not by bombs or dictators but by shortsighted budget deals.

The United States is a land of opportunity because of our freedom to dialogue and to contain different dialogues, which libraries represent. I hope all the people who have benefited from reading and who love the libraries will fight to maintain this wonderful institution.

MELISSA LEVINE

Irvine