Among the many public services Lewiston and Auburn will lose if the Palesky tax cap is approved are our public libraries. There is no state funding for town and city libraries. I can’t imagine a community without one. From my own childhood and that of my children, the library helped our growing up.

What would I, and thousands like me, lose if they were forced to close? Reference gets me information I never could find on my own. Computer and Internet facilities are available for those of us who don’t have them at home. Books we can’t afford to buy, we can borrow for free. Video and audio books and movies are available. Inter-library loans get hard-to-find books from as far away as Colorado. Newspapers and magazines can be read on site and borrowed. Students from first grade through high school get materials beyond classroom resources. And the library professionals use their resources as no volunteers could.

Of course, Maine taxes are high and cost of living has escalated. But there are some things that make this a good place to live and to bring up children. There is a sense of community. The money any of us would save under this proposal wouldn’t enable us to buy the public services we get when we pool our tax payments. And the public libraries provide us all, rich and poor, with knowledge, recreation and entertainment. Don’t let us lose it.

Anita G. McCauley, Auburn