Wow! So here it is: noted science fiction author Ray Bradbury has an open letter on the Opinion page of today’s Press-Telegram, imploring us to keep our library open.

“I recently learned of the pending forced closure of the Long Beach Main Library from public access to balance the city budget. This is heartbreak and an outrage. How can a major city not provide public access to a civic center library?” he writes.

“City Hall decisions will remove access to over 1.5 million books from one square mile of the city!” Bradbury continues (and we’re assuming that number refers to the impending loss of Acres of Books as well. Main Library has only around 460,000 volumes.)

“Is Long Beach at war with the printed word and books?” Bradbury asks.

That’s wild stuff. I’m just curious; I know we’ve been hearing a lot from Bradbury lately. When was the last time another person of his stature took an interest in what we’re doing in Long Beach?

Tags: acres of books, Broadway Block, California, downtown redevelopment, Long Beach, Main Library, Main Library closure, press telegram, ray bradbury, Southern California, The District Weekly, Theo Douglas

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Dick Ray 3 months ago 1 point
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Maybe Mr. Bradbury would be willing to reach into his own pocket for the $10 million needed to fix that monument to municipal malfeasance.
Just stay the hell out of my pocket!

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Andrew Williams 3 months ago 1 point
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Dick Ray? Hope for your sake that's a pseudonym.

God bless you, Mr Bradbury. And nuts to the LBCC!

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Dick Ray 3 months ago 1 point
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It's on my birth certificate.
Now, do you want to debate the issue or simply toss out juvenile ad homonym barbs?
Very classy Mr. Williams.

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Andy 3 months ago 1 point
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or "ad hominem", if you're not Dick Ray.

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R. Crumb 3 months ago 1 point
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Wasn't Dick Ray one of the original members of the Fantastic Five back when the series first started? I mean before it was reduced to the Fantastic Four.

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Jane 3 months ago 1 point
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Someone should look at the budget and see how much money is wasted on frivolous things. And look at all the construction going on downtown...don't they get money from that? They could find ten million if they wanted or they could be efficient and move the library to one of the soon to be sitting vacant newly constructed properties downtown, that they approved. The could get a great deal on a spanking new property, no doubt.

They don't need to close the library, they could find a way not to but they are being lazy and the "audience", inner city folks are not at the top of their list.

Long Beach City Council, look around at what's going on downtown, carefully. Chickens...home...roost, mean anything to ya?

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John_B 3 months ago 1 point
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Jane (6): Not "someone should look at the budget" but "all of us should look at the budget" and often. It's not a big secret. It's not locked up in a vault in the bowels of City Hall. It can be found online. Go find it, look at it, identify areas you feel our government could and should cut and areas where they should not, then write your Council member and explain to them what you've learned and what you would like to see done. It really is just that simple.

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