The wifi at my local public library in Lakewood is an invaluable service, for me and for the community.

When the remains of Hurricane Sandy knocked out phone or power lines in much of Lakewood, our library provided a lifeline for people including me, for days, while utilities worked to restore services to homes. Every time I visit our library, I see people making use of the wifi service. Young and old, alike.

Lakewood is fortunate to have this service. With the commitment of the FCC to ensure a library budget of $2.30 ($5.00 for a selected category of larger urban and suburban libraries) per square foot, other libraries can finally upgrade outdated equipment or plan for new construction. They can have confidence that desperately needed support will be there.

I encourage the FCC to maintain secure funding through the full five-year budget period as adopted during the 2014 Modernization.