As a fairly new resident of Enumclaw, I can feel the friendliness and positive spirit all around the landscape and amongst the people in our community. As my wife likes to say smiling, “It’s still a little like Mayberry,” which makes me chuckle. Yes, unlike so many other towns, people in Enunclaw still wave to one another walking down the streets and are generally considerate and polite at intersections, which attracted us here. In other words, there still exists and sense of innocence and trust in our town, like America’s “heartland.”

Yet, as we have seen or heard, some elements of vandalism have crept into our town. In my opinion, those who go out of their way to get a kick out of burning innocent, treasured Little Free Libraries scattered around neighborhoods are trying to discourage us. On another level such people are also crying out for help — destroying treasures in town is a manifestation of inner pain, but is still criminal and cannot be tolerated. My other suggestion is for all of us to roll up our sleeves, immediately paint over vandalism and find handy people in town to rebuild our little libraries. Let’s replace black and charred books now in ashes and that once stirred imaginations with new ones we desire to pass along to future readers and continue the spirit of maintaining our treasures in town.

John Sheridan

Enumclaw