Some west-central Illinois librarians were surprised but grateful when they learned they are eligible for thousands of dollars in grants to improve their technology.
Hannah Miller was equally shocked and thrilled when she learned her library is eligible to receive thousands of dollars in grant money from the Illinois Secretary of State.
"We are connected to other directors through a listserv and they have been asking, 'Is this a scam?' It was pure shock, nobody knew about it," said Miller, Carlinville Public Library's director.
A listserv is a way of sending an electronic message to a large number of people.
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Winchester Public Library director Jeanette Wallace was equally surprised when she learned about the grant.
"Nobody knew it was happening and there it was," Wallace said.
The Illinois Secretary of State's office announced Thursday that it is awarding $2 million in grants to help public libraries in underserved communities upgrade their technology, which can include increasing internet speed, installing self-checkout machines and making library websites Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant.
That means 113 public libraries are eligible to receive either $27,500 or $12,500 in grant money, depending on how many people the libraries serve.
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Winchester Public Library, which is eligible for $12,500, is considering using the grant money to replace computers for both patrons and staff, replacing the book scanner and receipt printer and making the library website ADA-compliant with alternative text so screen readers can describe images to blind people, Wallace said.
Carlinville Public Library also is eligible to receive $12,500 and Miller hopes to use that money to boost internet speed because if too many people use the library's computers at the same time, they freeze, she said.
This is especially a problem when the library's stop-motion animation club meets and the kids have to keep logging in and out every time the computers stop working, Miller said.
"It's going to do a lot of good in our community," Miller said.
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Greenfield Public Library, eligible for $12,500, wants to use its grant money to replace its computers, because two of them recently broke and people rely on library computers for all sorts of day-to-day tasks, library director Brenda Shipley said.
"Technology is always progressing," she said. "It’s hard to keep up with when you don’t have a very large budget."
Other area libraries that are eligible for grants, each $12,500, include: Barry Public Library,Beardstown Houston Memorial Public Library, Roodhouse Public Library, Rushville Public Library and Virginia Memorial Public Library.
Libraries have until June 14 to submit their grant plans to the secretary of state. Projects can start as soon as June 28 and libraries have two years in which to use the grant money, Giannoulias said.
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Because libraries mainly are funded through property taxes and property values vary widely around the state, some libraries don’t have enough funding to provide essential services to their communities or to upgrade their technology, Giannoulias said.
"Libraries play a significant role in our communities, so it's imperative that they evolve to meet the needs of residents and expand their offerings, particularly when it comes to technology," Giannoulias said. "We have a responsibility to ensure that all communities, regardless of their location or wealth, have access to the best library programming beyond just written materials. These grants will help narrow digital divides."
Eden MacDougall is a news reporter at the Jacksonville Journal-Courier. He was previously a reporter for Billy Penn and the Logan Center for Urban Investigative Reporting in Philadelphia, Pa., and graduated from Temple University in 2022.
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