<p>My name is Hali Taylor and I am the director of the Shepherdstown Public Library.</p><p>We thank you for the opportunity to speak to you tonight – We realize you have been inundated with this topic, and we all appreciate your continued attention and patience.</p><p>Our current funding request to the board of education stems from the irrefutable fact that libraries play a significant and crucial role in the human learning continuum. </p><p>As studies have shown, children who are read to from infancy have a significantly increased probability of being readers later on, which, in turn, increases the probability that they will succeed in school, with a higher probability of graduation. This produces a productive member of society who has a greatly reduced chance of coming into contact with the criminal justice system, which gets a lot more funding than libraries.</p><p>The reality behind our request for increased funding is that Jefferson County needs more and better library services. We do not have the financial resources to provide more than status quo minimal library services to our communities. We could do a lot more with better funding: not only with library programming, materials and service to the community but also with keeping our staff up to date on the newest information technologies and resources. </p><p>The bottom line is that our local funding levels are shamefully low, particularly in light of the fact that our county is very wealthy. As part of the metro area of DC, we are expected to provide library service on a par with our neighboring non-West Virginia counties – an impossible feat given our meager funding.</p><p>If we want a healthy, successful and economically sound county, we need to invest in our children and their education, and robust libraries will play a significant role in that investment. </p><p>Thank you again for your attention and for the service you provide to Jefferson County.</p>