I just released an album that I recorded, mixed, and graphic designed in the makerspaces at the main branch and JP branch of the Boston Public Library. Having access to recording equipment and software allowed me to learn more about how to make an album and how to make visual art. I’m thankful that I could broaden my skill set at the library!

I have always enjoyed reading. As I’ve gotten older, borrowing books from Libby has enriched my life! Because I can’t do as much as fast, audiobooks keep me company while I do my tasks & I look forward to them. Yard work, too 😊 On Saturday mornings when the library, it’s filled with kids brought by their parents. Heart warming!

The Richmond Public Library made me excited to read, which inspired a life-long love of learning.

Thank you for making my commute enjoyable and bearable! I look forward to the books I can borrow through my library network and can’t thank you enough for making it happen.

Since retiring from Worcester with its large library to Richmond, I have depended on interlibrary loan for many books. At the same time, I have benefited from the wonderful staff and programs here at our small but gracious Richmond Free Library. Libraries are places both to feed the individual intellect and to engage the community. They are vital across all of Massachusetts for many, many reasons. We depend on them, and we depend on our elected representatives to support them. Thank you!

Librarians and libraries are more important now than ever before to the health of our democracy. Literacy, access to research materials, study space-- the list is long and and changing and growing.

My library book club keeps me connected to my community, offers me opportunities to think and grow, and keeps me laughing.

The smell of the building reminds me of when my kids were young. We spent a lot of time at libraries when we homeschooled. Happy memories!

I have been an avid reader my entire life. The library gives me access to so many wonderful books. I use Libby for ebooks and audiobooks and love to take part in all the wonderful programs offered by libraries in our area!

I visited Porter Memorial Library shortly after I moved to the area. I was kindly greeted. They shared a flyer with all their upcoming events and I was able to use their internet since I didn’t have it set up at home yet. The library is a wonderful piece of the community.

We love the library! It is a portal full of endless possibilities and adventures — nothing makes us happier than our new bedtime stories we check out every week :)

I read 15 books in 2024 - all through the wonderful app Libby & the library system. Please don’t let Trump take away this wonderful resource. I’m heartsick to think that my grandchildren may not get the opportunity to go to the library & take out books for free. Please don’t slow this to happen!!

I love going to the library for so many different reasons - to get a book or video, browse and sit in one of the comfy chairs, bump into folks from town, print things when my home printer doesn’t work (which is often) or attend one of the interesting presentations. The Maynard Library staff is awesome!

The Pollard Memorial Library is my home away from home. When I need a break from work, I walk to the library and pick up my holds. It still amazes me that I can access any book from my wonderful local library. The staff is warm and welcoming. The space is often filled with laughter and chatter from chess groups, children's art and dance programs, or adult crafting. It is the hub of our community and it is all free. Lowell - we are lucky!

I am a voracious reader and my wonderful Porter Memorial Library in Blandford is able to keep me supplied with all the fiction and non fiction hardcover books that I love and the ebooks that my husband loves. We'd be lost without it and our incredible librarian!

I am a trustee of the Maynard Public Library, and I am intensely proud of my association with this beloved institution. As a historical researcher, libraries have been a cornerstone of my life for more than half a century. From grade school through college and graduate school to historical research, I have had the tremendous good fortune to research in libraries, large and small, public and private, and here and abroad. At every stop, I have had the pleasure of meeting some terrific people working at them: talented, interesting, unselfish, kind, and always ready to help. Maynard’s wonderful staff and director are among the very best I have met anywhere. Their matchless patience, creativity, and resourcefulness is inexhaustible, and, as we witnessed during the pandemic, they are unfailingly devoted to our diverse, and ever-diversifying, community. Without their support, my own researches into American history would not be nearly so fruitful. Libraries, I believe, are about community; they mirror the health and vitality of a community and they are fundamental to maintaining its vitality. They are indispensable to our democratic way of life. President Franklin D. Roosevelt said it best: “I have an unshakeable conviction that democracy can never be undermined if we maintain our library resources and a national intelligence capable of using them” (Franklin D. Roosevelt, letter to Herbert Putnam, March 28, 1939). Over the years, as the town has grown and changed, I have marvelled as Maynard’s Public Library has adapted to the new circumstances. It has truly become what it aims to be, a hub for “self-education, culture, recreation, and information for people of all ages.” (MPL website)

We are appreciative of our little Blandford library. We joined the mornings for children about 20 years ago with our little boy. He was hooked on books and has read many in his life . We started him early in life and he is now so smart , doing wonderful in college , and has become a wonderful person . We met new people in the library programs and became friends. So thank you Blandford library for offering so much to our youngsters .

My 5 year old son loves going to the library to check out books and play! He loves reading and the library helps make reading exciting for him. I've also read way more since getting our family library card. Our library is an inclusive and very comforting environment that provides so many important resources and events for the community.

I'm housebound and almost completely bedbound. Reading is how I pass a lot of the time when I'm able to handle an ebook screen, or if I have to lie in the dark with my eyes closed, I listen to audiobooks. I wouldn't be able to do these things without my local library (and BPL!) because I can't afford to purchase every single book I read. Very few people can afford that. I also borrow physical books, DVDs, and video games through my library system (sometimes through ComCat if needed), because I can't afford the 20 different streaming services out there (plus lots of things aren't streaming anywhere anymore!). Please fight for the IMLS so people like me can continue to have access to books, movies, TV shows, games, etc.