During my 16 years of experience in public libraries I have seen many changes take place in both the services we offer and the expectations people have from libraries. One of the most pressing needs our society faces is education - and by education, I mean opportunity.

When Profesor Martin came to me several years ago, I was immediately taken with his enthusiasm and vision. Profesor Martin described the need for those who had fallen out of the mandatory education process, He told me that the GED was the opportunity for them to return to society, to get jobs they would otherwise not be considered for - even to go on to
college.

At that time I was Assistant Director of the Central Islip Public Library. That community has a large percentage of Hispanic people and others who need the GED to enable them.

We started a "GED Practice Test" program - simple enough, it offered a realistic test and setting where the students could see how they would score if they took the actual GED test.

The program was a huge success - any time a person achieves a means to be
successful, it's a huge success.

As Director of the Riverhead Free Library, I intend on bringing the program to Riverhead. We have a growing Hispanic population, and a large African-American population that could benefit from the GED practice test program; of course, it will be available to everyone.