As a U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class, Virginia Sanchez sees why literacy is vital

Long Beach native Virginia Sanchez was an adult services librarian at Long Beach Public Library when she answered the call of duty and enlisted in the United States Navy.

Petty Officer 1st Class Sanchez was sent to Afghanistan last Fall, where she’s been helping our forces teach Afghans skills such as modern farming techniques.

Then, last month–like all of us–Sanchez heard the city wanted to close our Main Library and, well, she was not pleased.

“The irony–to be there teaching them how to fish, and then hearing this from my own home country,” Sanchez said Tuesday night outside Council Chambers, as Long Beach City Council discussed how to save city services in the face of a looming $16.9 structural budget deficit in Fiscal Year 2008-2009, which begins Oct. 1.

They weren’t talking library–this budget meeting wasn’t about the library–and so Sanchez mentioned it only briefly. But–being an enlisted woman now, she’s in the middle of a two-year tour of duty. She’s only home on a leave that began Aug. 12 and ends Aug. 28, and so her time is short.

She’s been making the most of it, however. Sanchez mentioned the library–and other services like the Police Athletic League–in remarks to the Council during public comment.

And as she said at the meeting, she was only following up on what runs below, a letter she emailed Monday to the Mayor, council members, and local newspapers. Here’s Virginia Sanchez’s letter to the city:

Dear Mayor Foster and Honorable Council members,

Please allow me to introduce myself. I am a United States Sailor deployed to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. I have been “Boots on the Ground” since February 2008, spending long days in the effort toward accomplishing our mission. I am part of a small and proud group of “Sand Sailors” forward-deployed in support of Embedded Training Teams, working closely with the Afghan people to improve their circumstances.

The more research I do and the longer I am here the more convinced I am that much of the tragedy I see happening here could have been avoided if one element we who are from the Land Of Plenty take for granted were in place: Literacy.

I know from personal experience how literacy is key to improved quality of life, my family having collected Welfare while my mother, a single parent, attended Long Beach City College. After she completed her Associate Degree there was no holding her back, and she made certain all of her three children received at least the same level of education. My brother received his Associate Degree at Long Beach City College, my sister her Master’s Degree at California State University, Long Beach, and I received my Master’s Degree at the University of Arizona.

The good people of Afghanistan want very much to do the correct thing. Literacy is abysmally low, 12.6 percent for females over the age of 15, and 28.1 percent for the overall population over the age of 15 (CIA World Fact Book). UNESCO estimates that 21.9 of women and 51.9 percent of men can read or write at all (UNESCO.org).

The Afghan people are forced to rely on the word of the Mullahs–religious men–many of whom are shockingly corrupt. These Mullahs incite violence against those who do not accept their ways, and the people, unable to read the Quran themselves, believe what they are told and act accordingly. Tragedy follows, as you who have been following the news have seen.

I am very interested to know what plans are in place to provide literacy services to those who will be denied access to information resources should the Main Library be closed. Why do I care about Long Beach from the other side of the world? Because I grew up there. I went to Daniel Webster Elementary School, Charles Evan Hughes Junior High School, Woodrow Wilson High School, Long Beach City College, and California State University Long Beach. I am proud to represent “Da LBC” wherever I go, and I cannot allow anything remotely resembling the dearth of resources I see all around me here happen in my hometown.

Libraries are vital to the health of any community, and this small Army Camp is no exception. When I arrived the library was a room full of shelves stuffed with books, mostly recreational reading. It is now organized into fiction and a growing nonfiction collection, and includes children’s books. The nonfiction and children’s books are flying off the shelves. These books are obtained via donations I solicited via Operation Paperback and Books for Troops. Why would I spend so much of my precious little free time on such a project? Because I believe in Walking the Walk, and the fact that the library is eagerly browsed and books fly off the shelves; that everyday soldiers to military officers from all branches patronize it; that I am stopped and asked for recommendations by our highest ranking leadership; that service people from other FOBs (Forward Operating Bases) call it the best library in Afghanistan, tells me that there is no doubt that libraries are needed.

What do I know about libraries? I am a librarian, employed by Long Beach Public Library, where I started off as a Library Page at the Main Library when I was an idealistic 19-year-old.

Closing the Main Library without another location in place and without providing at least the same level of services would be a grievous blow to the community. Where will the disabled go? Where will the aspiring entrepreneurs find the necessary resources to realize their dreams? Where will the young, poor mothers, much like my own mother at one time, who want a better life for their children, where will they go?

Please do not do this in my hometown. Please, not to the place where I grew up, not in the place I am counting the days until I can return.

Very respectfully,

Virginia Sanchez, US Navy
Department Librarian
Long Beach Public Library

Pol-e Charki, Afghanistan

Tags: "Da LBC", Afghanistan, cal state long beach, California, Charles Evan Hughes Junior High School, cia, Daniel Webster Elementary School, Long Beach, long beach city college, Long Beach City Council, Main Library closure, Mayor Bob Foster, Operation Enduring Freedom, Petty Officer 1st Class Virginia Sanchez, Pol-e Charki Afghanistan, Sand Sailors, Southern California, The District Weekly, Theo Douglas, UNESCO, United States Navy, Woodrow Wilson High School