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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Christina Li, Member of the Public, on the Importance of Public Library Funding
4:38:36
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129 sec
Christina Li passionately advocates for sustained funding for public libraries, emphasizing their crucial role in supplementing formal education and providing essential resources for children's development. She argues that libraries are vital for fostering literacy, creativity, and equal opportunity, especially for families with limited resources.
- Li shares personal experiences of how libraries served as a sanctuary and source of enrichment in her youth.
- She highlights the importance of free library programs in meeting children's developmental needs and igniting their imagination.
- Li urges the council to view libraries as blueprints for the future, essential for creating an informed, empathetic, and resilient society.
Christina Li
4:38:36
Good afternoon.
4:38:37
My name is Christina Li.
4:38:39
I thank you for granting me the privilege today to speak on an issue that is deeply personal yet imperative across various boroughs.
4:38:46
The significance of sustained funding for public libraries.
4:38:49
We often uphold public education as the foundation of literacy, creativity, and knowledgeable ideas.
4:38:55
But as with any structure, foundation alone is not enough.
4:38:58
A child's intellectual and emotional development demands upskilling and enrichment.
4:39:03
This is where public libraries step in.
4:39:05
Where education offers a framework, the library offers freedom to explore, to question, and to grow.
4:39:10
Consider this.
4:39:11
A child may be able to learn to read in a classroom, but it's often in the library where that reading turns into passion.
4:39:17
Exposure to a wide selection of texts cultivates transformation.
4:39:21
This leads to greater academic success, higher empathy, and stronger education sorry, strong communication skills.
4:39:28
The library is where the idea becomes accessible to all, not just to those with economic means.
4:39:33
Let's not forget the free programs that are offered designed to meet the developmental needs of the youth.
4:39:39
I have had the privilege of working within such programs and I can tell you firsthand the programs offered extensive joy to them.
4:39:45
They ignite an imagination, sharpen motor skills, and encourage creativity.
4:39:50
Yet the truth is stark.
4:39:52
Many parents are unable to supplement their children's education not due to a lack of trying, rather to a lack of resources.
4:39:58
I speak with conviction because I do not approach this from a distance.
4:40:02
I sought refuge in the books, programs, and librarians who never diminished my opinions.
4:40:07
The library is not just a place, it is a sanctuary.
4:40:10
We live in an economy where full time employment no longer guarantees financial stability.
4:40:14
For these families, the public library is not simply helpful, it is essential.
4:40:19
To underfund our public libraries is to incur a long term social cost.
4:40:24
It's to turn away from the very values we can't claim to hold dear, equal opportunity.
4:40:28
In closing, I ask not simply for your support, I ask for your vision to see libraries not as components to the past, but as blueprints for the future.
4:40:35
Now I ask you as the investors to invest in the potential of our future generation knowing that it would be nothing less than a flourishing of an informed, empathetic and resilient society.
4:40:44
Thank you.