I counted the library as my safe haven from the nastiness of school. In grade school I came in early to help the school librarian with putting away books and cleaning up the library. In high school, I discovered many new worlds both real and imaginary. My mother was an avid reader and delighted to see me with a nose in a book, though she did try to go outside periodically. Now I have many librarians as friends though I am not a librarian. I have heard their stories of the cuts that have been made at the city and county levels. What it means is less access to information. Yes, there is the internet, but nothing can equal a trip to one's library where you can sit and pore over many topics. Libraries are the only place where income doesn't matter when it comes to access to knowledge. To me, the library is the epitome of the exercise of free speech.