Dear readers: Actually, we read you, too.

For several years, some readers have told us we're "too liberal." It's a charge that just about all newspapers face today amid the daily barrage from radio and TV pundits who really are talking about big-city newspapers and TV newscasts. But we hear it locally more often than we hear that we're too conservative (though we get that sometimes, too).

We've also sensed a yearning for more commentary on local news and Maine issues, from experts and from the "general public." We know that our letters to the editor sections of the newspapers are popular; so much so that we struggle to keep up with the supply. We have a hard time fitting all the letters into our papers that meet our generous guidelines, which allow us to print as many letters as we can.

Starting Sunday, Nov. 18, we will address these points in a significant expansion of our "op-ed" ("opposite the editorial page") content. We will devote an additional half-page to our A section for letters and new opinion columns. Here are the details:

We are adding three syndicated columnists: Kathleen Parker, Mona Charen and Garrison Keillor.

Parker, generally billed as a conservative writer, lives in South Carolina. She writes about family and social issues primarily. She is one of the most widely distributed newspaper columnists in the U.S., trailing only one or two writers, including George Will.

Charen, also a conservative, writes more about political issues. She is a lawyer by background and frequently appears on "The Capital Gang" TV show. She wrote a book, "Do Gooders: How Liberals Hurt Those They Claim to Help (and the Rest of Us)."

Keillor needs little introduction. The acclaimed host of A Prairie Home Companion on National (and Minnesota) Public Radio, Keillor writes with humor, satire and verve. He leans liberal in his politics. His newspaper column, which started in 2005, is called, "The Old Scout."

We are adding four local columnists who will write for us once a month: Dan Billings, Theo Kalikow, Kay Rand and Liz Soares.

Billings is a lawyer from the southernmost reaches of our circulation area, Bowdoinham. He is a conservative commentator and frequent poster at the Web site, "As Maine Goes." He says he "frequently disagrees with the editorial opinions" of the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel. But — hey, I can interject an opinion once in a while — I don't think he reads us closely enough. He generally would agree with our editorial views on state and local government spending, at least.

Kalikow is president at the University of Maine-Farmington, an important institution in an important town for us. She promises to offer variety, from "nagging about public issues" to writing stories with morals to even offering recipes. If you've met Kalikow, as I have, you know her as bright, intriguing and full of energy.

Rand, a consultant and government/political analyst for the law firm Bernstein Shur, lives in Hallowell. She was the chief of staff under former Gov. Angus King. A lifelong Mainer, she says she is a lifelong Democrat, too. She calls herself an "expert in confused and pragmatic politics."

Soares isn't new to many of our readers. Rather, she is "moving." Her columns have appeared weekly on the Local & State page of the Kennebec Journal. Her column now will appear monthly on the op-ed page of both the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel. Soares is an Augusta librarian and long-time city resident.