Sixteen Postcards to the Governor
Authors Kit Rosewater and Laurel Goodluck travelled to the Santa Fe Indian School on January 8, 2026, to meet with students in grades 7-12 to discuss book censorship. The students all had stories and messages for their state government, and together embarked in a spontaneous postcard writing campaign to our governor's office. Transcribed below are their anonymous messages.
SIXTEEN POSTCARDS FROM STUDENTS AT THE SANTA FE INDIAN SCHOOL TO GOVERNOR MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM, WRITTEN ON JANUARY 8, 2026.
Postcard #1
Hello. Reading is an escape, but it also allows you to see either the real world or a fantasy world through a different lens. It encourages empathy. So I support, and I hope you will also support, Freedom to Read, because everyone should be free to read what they want. We say knowledge is power, but allowing books to be banned is withholding knowledge.
Postcard #2
Dear Gov. Lujan-Grisham, I’m a 12th grader at the Santa Fe Indian School. I’m very concerned and invested in HB26. It’s important to me as a young student that the diversity of our libraries is preserved and reflects the diversity of the state’s children. Please hear this bill and protect our freedom to read.
Postcard #3
The reason why reading should be free to everyone—all subjects—is that it makes us understand. Books teach us about other people, they connect us, they make us think. With books we can learn about other cultures and problems. Without books, we can become uninformed and biased. Books teach us to be better people.
Postcard #4
Honorable Governor, I believe that the freedom to read is a right all New Mexicans deserve. Banning books will achieve nothing, but in turn would strip people of all ages of one of their most basic rights. The right to read ALL books means far more than people imagine, and it is no one’s right to decide what people get to know. Knowledge is something that shouldn’t be hoarded or kept from people.
Postcard #5
My favorite genre is historical fiction. A lot of books that have actual history in it are being banned from libraries and we will not be able to learn about the history of things. Most book bans are not ok!
Postcard #6
Dear Governor, Hello, my name is [redacted]. I’m a high school student at the Santa Fe Indian School. I think that this issue is important. I would love to go to a library and pick my own books. Honestly it is common sense. I want our generation to not be limited. We deserve a right to read our books that we like. -10th grader
Postcard #7
Dear Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, I am [redacted], [redacted’s] granddaughter, please hear my plea to keep my freedom to read. Protect the intellectual sovereignty of thoughts, opinions, and agency to create and share. I have experienced the byproduct of my peers not reading books with stories about my people or the experiences of LGBTQ+ people. They gave me hatred and hurt me with words and slurs. The love and empathy that stories plant in us are seeds. Please help prevent the spread of this hatred to future students. Protect me. Protect my children.
Postcard #8
Dear Governor, The freedom to read is very important to me and my school. I feel that banning and restricting books can hold back some students. Many people need books to truly understand themselves and others. I hope you understand why I would love to have the freedom to read what I want and why others need to too.
Postcard #9
As a queer Native American, I want to protect these books because not only do I love reading, but I also love representation! Just knowing that books including queer characters are banned silences those groups. No one should be silenced for what they stand for.
Postcard #10
Hello, I’m a 12 year old SFIS student. I think the freedom to read lets students think about others, and how those other students’ lives are.
Postcard #11
I’m a Native and some people want Native books so people could know what we do and speak our language and learn about us—that’s why we should protect the books.
Postcard #12
Hello, Where we understand what it means to ban a book falls deeper than just certain flagged subjects. Books contain thoughts and ideas that deserve the attention of students. Students are the future and the future deserves to read. New Mexico has always been a for sure destination of freedom. What about New Mexico reads “ban books” ?
Postcard #13
Dear Governor Lujan Grisham, New Mexico is such a beautiful, colorful diverse state. One full of stories. To ban books which provide accurate, truthful, meaningful history is to dim the bright minds of New Mexico’s children. Every kid deserves the right to read ANY book, and every book. Every book with thoughtful words deserves to be available to a wide, WIDE audience. An audience with curious minds. To censor is to hide. To censor a book, to silence a voice, WILL lead to the loss of priceless history. A children’s book is often the representation children are first exposed to. To read, to be proud, to be very knowledgeable, is worth every single effort. Young people are New Mexico’s future.
Postcard #14
Dear Governor, I am a 7th grader at Santa Fe Indian School. I like the freedom of the Native kids’ books, or Native American literature in general. Because it’s good for me to read about my own culture.
Postcard #15
Dear Governor, I hope this postcard finds you well. You know what really gets to me is that I feel that it is common sense for me to walk into a library and read what I want to read. A book ban is like taking away my education. With today’s technology I think it is fascinating that people still want to read. I love to read. Also as a Native American student our voices are pushed aside, but I count on you to bring my voice higher, let us know that we are heard. We need books. We love books. Please don’t take what we love: Empowerment through books.
Postcard #16
Dear Governor, The upcoming/current questioning of banning books reminds me of a certain experience what I was younger. I was told that there are “certain topics” I shouldn’t be reading; this was due to a book I was reading about immigration. I believe that anyone has the right to read whatever they want to because being educated on multiple sides brings a whole perspective. -10th grader.
You can join these students and write your own postcard to the Governor at https://www.freedomtoreadnewmexico.org/share_your_story