It’s sad to see Long Beach’s Independent Books, Gayle Borchard’s fine emporium, close. It wasn’t a business failure; it was a business success that wore down its proprietor. “I bit off more than I could chew,” she said not long ago.

(Several decades back I worked for Val Campiche’s “Book Vendor” and am here to say just how demanding a successful bookstore is; the work never ends. Val’s family referred to it as her “fifth child.” Karla Nelson and Catherine O’Toole are likely nodding their heads now.)

I’ve been a Peninsulan long enough to see the city of Long Beach turn away from several opportunities to provide itself with a public library. Books provide youngsters with proof that there is real life beyond indifferent parents, chaos, the shallow untruthful stories that TV tells viewers, and a small town that may not understand its children. The modest increase in property taxes is immaterial when compared with the opportunity to encourage and entertain children and make their lives better and more fun.

Those of us who hadn’t the most pleasant upbringing but who lived in towns with libraries we could bicycle to were given a door to the world. The old Carnegie Library and one lone English teacher, both in Pendleton,Ore., opened the way into a life which I continue to enjoy today.

Gayle Borchard did her level best to encourage child literacy and help the youngsters of the Peninsula.

We will miss her store (she was a wonderful salesperson, and sold more than her share of my books, said the vested interest!), but she’ll be around.

And so too will the need for Long Beach to have its own city library.

Nancy Lloyd

Oysterville