I wrote this letter and sent it tonight to my local and state officials because somehow books are under threat in 2023.

Good Evening,

I am a citizen and registered voter. I write to you today in defense of the written word. As books cannot speak for themselves in living voices, I will write in their support.

Books are objects of wonder. They whisper to our minds with new ideas, new viewpoints, characters, and histories that sweep us to new worlds. We live in a free marketplace of ideas built on the backs of books. Ancient and modern, we learn new ways of thinking and new perspectives through books. Books give us an escape from the horrors of the world. They offer us new modes of thinking. They give us shining examples of heroes, of what right and wrong look like, of ethics and philosophy, or just a comforting voice in trying times. They provide answers beyond those shouted by polarizing social media, promoted by greedy companies, or sleazed by self-serving politicians.

I have been an avid reader since I was a child. Somehow, in 2023, book bans are spreading like cancer through our great, messy nation. This cannot be allowed to continue.

If your ideas and beliefs are threatened by books, it is not time to ban those books. It is time to read more books. Or write your own.  Our libraries should not be divested of books. They deserve greater funding to contain these wondrous objects, greater funding to hire librarians to shepherd them, and greater funding to expand spaces to promote the discovery of books. If you support books, I will support you. If you oppose books, I will vote for someone else.

I hope you will oppose book bans and support libraries.

Thank you and I hope this letter finds you well.

Kind Regards,

Joseph Parrino