I read with great interest the front page article from Oct. 27, 2023, “Library foundation looking to build endowment funds.” I applaud the efforts of the Shepherdstown Library Foundation to supplement their public funding.

However, though I wish it were true, the Charles Town Library does not have an endowment of $20 million supporting its operations. The actual figure is closer to $7 million, slowly built up over the last 65 years, when Old Charles Town Library, Inc. (OCTL) formally became a nonprofit. While receiving only 20 percent of our total budget from the Jefferson County Commission and the cities of Charles Town and Ranson, OCTL is responsible for serving over one-half of the county’s population. With the earnings from the endowment, which we manage very prudently, OCTL contributes about a third of all monies spent on libraries in Jefferson County. OCTL also supports a museum and archive, which is an integral part of our information services.

All libraries in this county, the county with the highest per average household income of any county in the state, are sadly underfunded. Public monies contribute a little over $12 per person. The U.S. average funding for libraries is more than $40 per person. For the libraries in Jefferson County to meet these national funding standards, they would need to receive more than $2.5 million in public monies. Currently, the libraries receive about $725,000 each year in public monies. That is less than a third of what the funding should be.

The private funds that contribute to the operations of the Old Charles Town Library go a long way in supporting library services in the county, but they are not nearly enough to provide the level of services that the people of Jefferson County deserve.

Marcella Genz, OCTL executive director