>> MADISON NGUYEN: My name is Madison Nguyen.
I am a council member with the city of San Jose.
I grew up in a very large family with very limited resources.
We have received public subsidies from the local government.
I grew up in a small town called Modesto, and I remember, because there are nine siblings
in the family, nine kids with both my parents working 2-3 jobs, it was very hard to give
us money to use for amenities, like buying books.
And so the local library was the place where I usually go to, to spend some time and read
lots of books.
Tully Branch Library, in my council district, represents one of the most diverse libraries,
probably in the nation.
The Tully Library is, to me, it's such a cultural gem, simply because it represents such a diverse
atmosphere for our residents.
Since most of our residents speak mostly Spanish or Vietnamese, the library also offers books
in Vietnamese and also Spanish, which is very crucial for families to maintain their traditional
language -- at the same time, offering the ability for some of the kids to learn English
as a second language.
And so, I can't think of a better venue to have in a district that is so unique and so
diverse as the Tully Branch Library.
Now, with the Martin Luther King, Jr.
Library, this has to be the most innovative and the most effective partnership and collaboration
that the city of San Jose has with San Jose State University.
Here we have this great place for students, university students, to come and study, to
borrow books.
Just a safe haven for them to come and enjoy the various services that the library offers.
I love biographies.
I've read pretty much all the biographies that authors write about the various Presidents
of the United States, and I've always found such a huge fascination with their lives,
with the things that they have been able to do to contribute to this country, to the world
around them.
And I believe that's one of the reasons why I've always wanted to become a public servant.
I had, at a very young age, set a goal for myself that whatever I wanted to do in life,
in my life, that I wanted to give back to the community that has given me so much.
>> NANCY PYLE: I'm Nancy Pyle, council member for District 10 for the city of San Jose.
I couldn't live without a library, and we are so fortunate in the city of San Jose to
have so many beautiful ones.
The Martin Luther King Library is absolutely exceptional and I believe, with world-class
standards, and I think you would be hard-pressed to find anyone that has something better to
offer.
We have wonderful neighborhood libraries as well.
We had a bond measure not too long ago, maybe ten years ago, and so many were built.
They're all state-of-the-art.
They're all really user-friendly and very, very attractive.
The Almaden Library is, of course, my favorite because that's in the district, as are others,
but that just happens to capture my heart.
I spend more time there than anywhere else because we either have community meetings
or some get-together, forums, you name it.
We've had all kinds of activities there, and I meet with the seniors monthly.
I meet with, or as often as I can, other groups as well, so it satisfies that need, but it
also is there for any kind of reference materials that might be needed.
We also have about 4,400 people a day that go in and out the door, so it's a widely used,
very beloved library.
>> WILLIAM MCDONALD: Hi, my name is William McDonald.
I'm the fire chief here in the city of San Jose.
During the time that I was in college and then the degrees that I've gotten since that
period of time, I've been able to spend time in libraries where no one knows that I'm there,
and I can kind of just really enjoy the time that I'm there.
Not only because of the reference and the reference that I could do off the Internet
or other ways -- it seems to be much more greatly enhanced when I can actually talk
to somebody who knows how to do reference work.
So, when I have days like I've had today, that I feel I've done a lot of activity and
everyone is pulling at me in many different ways and presenting me with all these issues,
being able to kind of recoil and relax and kind of refresh myself by myself in a place
like a library where it's quiet and I can kind of move at my own speed.
It really provides me with a good kind of relaxation I really can't get any place else.
So, that's one of the main reasons that I like spending time in libraries, because it's
my time.
>> SAM LICCARDO: I live in downtown San Jose.
We're fortunate to have the oldest library in the Valley, the East Carnegie Library,
which has recently been beautifully remodeled to preserve the old historic building as well
as a new modern wing as well.
My father grew up only a few blocks away from where I live today, and he described to me
how, for many years growing up, that he would take the bus out to East Santa Clara Street
after school to read at the East Carnegie Library.
And at the time, it was an opportunity, he knew, for families, immigrant families, in
particular.
My grandfather was an Italian immigrant, and at the time, most immigrant families were
either Italian or Spanish-speaking, or in parts like Japantown near where my father
lived, Japanese-speaking as well.
And so my father would describe all these different languages that he'd hear at East
Carnegie Library, and how wonderful it was, and remarkably around story time, the stories
would be told in English.
And that was an opportunity for the kids to learn English in their homes.
Now you can go out to East Carnegie Library and of course, you still hear Spanish, but
you hear so many other languages as well, as the community has changed.
We have a wonderful Portuguese community out there.
Portuguese-speaking community, I should say.
We also hear languages from all across the globe, including Tagalog, Laotian, Cambodian,
Vietnamese, of course.
And many other languages, and I think about the remarkable role that our libraries play
in integrating children in this melting pot into a community that recognizes and hopefully
takes pride in the remarkable diversity that it has, at the same time that it helps us
all achieve in this predominantly English-speaking world that we live here in the United States.
I really hope that our libraries can continue to play this anchor role in our communities,
to bring people of all languages and income levels and ethnicities together, to give children
an opportunity to learn, and to give communities an opportunity to share ideas.