NC Library awarded $10,000 in ARPA grants

By submitted, 08/20/21 7:21 PM

PRESCOTT – The Arkansas State Library has been awarded $2,660,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS); $2.4 million of the funds were set aside for direct aid to public libraries.

This round of IMLS funding gives the country’s libraries an opportunity to improve technology access and connectivity to support the education, health, and workforce development needs in their communities. The funding is also meant to help libraries update spaces and equipment for safe operations and expand programming possibilities, with the overall goal of improving and increasing services.

Funds were granted to city, county, and regional libraries for approved projects in accordance with a formula which included a per capita base, along with additional credits for indicators of need: unemployment, poverty, rurality, and low levels of home internet connectivity.

“These funds are an unprecedented shot in the arm for Arkansas’ libraries,” said Jennifer Chilcoat, Arkansas State Librarian. “The decision to push this money out to the public libraries in our state was an easy one. Our libraries know what is needed in their own communities, and the pandemic has affected those communities in different ways. The librarians themselves are the best ones to make the decisions about how to use these funds.”

Prescott Nevada County Library was awarded a grant in the amount of $10,000.00 to support pandemic recovery efforts. At Prescott Nevada County Library, the funds will go towards allowing the library to safely respond to the pandemic and implement public health protocols, supporting digital inclusion efforts to enable the library to reach residents such as through internet hotspots, accessible Wi-Fi, and digital content and related resources, particularly in support of education, health, and workforce development needs; and supporting library services that meet the needs of the community, including costs such as personnel, technology, training, materials, supplies, equipment, subscriptions and licenses within the grant period that support digital inclusion efforts and associated indirect costs.