A letter from Mark Sullivan

A letter from Mark Sullivan
Host of the Stay Home and Read a Book Ball

Dear Lovers of Reading and Libraries,

My family did not own a TV until I was ten. My mother taught me to read at four, and by the time I was five, we were taking weekly trips to the public library in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where we would both walk out with stacks of books. For free!

My mom was a voracious reader, often finishing four or five novels a week. She instilled in me the awe of cracking a book I knew nothing about, and being wholly transported to a new world with characters who became fast friends and bitter enemies; and having grand adventures wrought with suspense, humor, and seeming insurmountable problems; and not wanting the experience to end; and after the final page feeling transformed, like I’d become a different person altogether.

Those experiences continued when we moved back to Massachusetts and finally got a TV so my dad could watch the Red Sox. Between games, my mom and I haunted libraries where I read constantly, and my dream of being a writer was seeded. That dream grew in libraries across the country, from Chicago to Washington D.C. from San Diego to Vermont to Montana. Indeed, other than in my office, I have written most often in public libraries.

When we moved to Bozeman twenty-one-years ago, one of the first places I sought out was the old library on Rouse. When I wasn’t in my office, I wrote there and was overjoyed when the big library on Main Street was built. And not just because there was more room for books! The Bozeman Public Library offers films, audio books, e-books, and Internet access; and events for children, teens, and adults, free meeting rooms for local organizations, and even a Bookmobile that brings the miracle of reading to our neighborhoods.

Many of these services would not be possible without your support, which is what I am asking for as part of the library’s inaugural Stay Home and Read a Book Ball.

These days, staying home and reading a book may be one of the easiest and safest things you can do. So, find a good book, but before you vanish into its pages, take a moment to reflect on all that libraries have given you. And if you find yourself moved, perhaps you could make a contribution to Bozeman’s library as well.

All my best,
Mark Sullivan