LME Library Receives Accessibility Grant

The Lillie M. Evans Library in Princeville has received a $20,000 Libraries Transforming Communities (LTC): Accessible Small and Rural Communities grant to start a community garden. Funds will be used to add an accessible sidewalk into the hosta garden and to start a community vegetable garden. The library is hosting a community conversation on Thursday, June 1st at 6:30pm in our large meeting room to discuss how to make our garden more accessible for all community members. Please join us—we’d love your input!

Libraries Transforming Communities (LTC): Accessible Small and Rural Communities grants are an initiative from the American Library Association (ALA) that offer more than $7 million to small and rural libraries to increase the accessibility of facilities, services, and programs to better serve people with disabilities. For this grant round, 240 funded proposals represented 43 U.S. states and the Northern Mariana Islands. Of the selected libraries, 65 percent serve communities of less than 5,000 people.

“Congratulations to the libraries selected for the first round of this important award,” said ALA President Lessa Kananiʻopua Pelayo-Lozada. “With projects ranging from ADA accessibility to strengthening library partnerships with local organizations that serve disabled community members, the impact of this grant will improve library access for thousands of library users across the nation.”

The Lillie M. Evans Library was one of one hundred libraries that received $20,000 awards. The other 140 libraries received grants of $10,000. Eligibility was limited to communities with populations less than 25,000 and that are located at least five miles from an urbanized area, in accordance with Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) definitions. A full list of funded libraries can be found at https://www.ala.org/tools/librariestransform/libraries-transforming-communities/access/libraries.

“The Association for Rural and Small Libraries (ARSL) sends our congratulations to the first round of LTC: Accessible Small and Rural Communities libraries,” said ARSL Executive Director Kate Laughlin. ”All 240 institutions are so deserving of this funding, and we look forward to seeing their proposed projects bring big change to some of the country’s smallest communities.”

Since 2014, ALA has distributed Libraries Transforming Communities funding to foster community engagement skills among library workers and support need-driven projects. Libraries Transforming Communities: Accessible Small and Rural Communities is offered in partnership with the Association for Rural & Small Libraries (ARSL) with support from a private funder.

Community engagement meeting on May 4th @ Princeville Library

The Lillie M. Evans Library in Princeville is planning a community engagement meeting on Tuesday, May 4th at 7pm at the library. LME Library recently was awarded a grant from the American Library Association (ALA) to help establish a Library of Things. A Library of Things is any collection of objects that are outside the traditional items loaned by libraries. Objects can include items such as electronics, science kits, craft supplies, and equipment.

The meeting on May 4^th will be an opportunity to discuss the circulation of equipment we already own as well as consider items that the LME Library can purchase that could assist local residents, businesses, and organizations. We would like as many local organizational representatives as possible to attend this event. The grant discussion will allow us to better engage our community and execute our plan.

 

The Library of Things movement has expanded in the last decade and it makes sense to base it at the public library. Our library has established hours convenient to our community and is a safe and reliable place to pick up and drop off items. We have a powerful circulation system in place that can be adapted to circulate equipment and we have the ability to track a variety of statistics. People are familiar with borrowing materials from libraries so a Library of Things has the advantage of being both innovative and familiar at the same time.

The grant from the American Library Association (ALA) is part of the association’s Libraries Transforming Communities: Focus on Small and Rural Libraries initiative. Since 2014, ALA’s Libraries Transforming Communities initiative has re-imagined the role libraries play in supporting communities. Our award includes facilitator training and $3,000 in grant funds. The initiative is part of ALA’s longtime commitment to preparing library workers for the expanding role of libraries.

“Through community engagement, libraries are continuing their important work on literacy and access, while also working to fill gaps in other areas that may not have fallen to libraries in the past,” said ALA President Julius C. Jefferson. “We are excited to provide the resources for hundreds of libraries to take on new challenges in their communities and look forward to seeing the great things they accomplish.”

Libraries Transforming Communities: Focus on Small and Rural Libraries is offered in partnership with the Association for Rural & Small Libraries (ARSL). Please contact the LME Library at 385-4540 for more information or visit our website at lmelibrary.org.

Wi-Fi hotspots from the library

With high-speed internet access hard to find in many of Illinois’ rural areas, some public libraries are trying something new: letting patrons check out free wireless hotspots that can connect to the internet just about anywhere.

Recently the public libraries in Princeville and Brimfield received hotspot grants as part of the DigitalLead: Rural Libraries Creating New Possibilities project.  The Lillie M. Evans Library in Princeville received 7 mobile hotspot devices while the Brimfield Public Library District received 10 devices.  Both received free wireless coverage for each device for a one-year period.

This grant was provided by the Public Library Association and Microsoft Corp. to help rural populations reap the benefits of broadband internet connectivity.  Rural libraries are critical for communities to achieve digital access and skills and the resultant employment, economic, educational, and health benefits, often providing the only free access to computers, the Internet, and training in their regions.

The devices connect to the Sprint 4G LTE network and create a Wi-Fi network, allowing users to connect up to 10 Wi-Fi-enabled computers or electronic devices.  Patrons must have a library card in good standing, sign a Hotspot Patron Agreement Form and reside within the library district.  More information can be found on each library’s website. For LME Library, go to http://bit.ly/LMEhotspots

The United States as a whole has fallen behind other developed countries in internet download speeds.  According to a recent Microsoft study, 162.8 million people do not use the internet at broadband speeds, and almost 66 million people have low levels of digital readiness, according to the American Library Association. Libraries provide essential services to populations most affected by these challenges, particularly rural and low-income communities.

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read, September 21-27

It may surprise some to find out there are hundreds of reported attempts to ban books every year in the United States. It may be even more astounding for them to hear that since 1990, the American Library Association’s (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) has received reports of more than 18,000 attempts to remove materials in schools and libraries for content deemed by some as inappropriate, controversial, or even dangerous.

Banned Books Week, Sept. 21 – 27, 2014, reminds Americans about the importance of preventing censorship and ensuring everyone’s freedom to read any book they choose. According to ALA’s OIF, for every banned book reported, there are many more that are not.

“Our most basic freedom in a democratic society is our first amendment right of the freedom to read,” said ALA President Courtney Young. “Banned Books Week is an opportunity for all of us – community residents, librarians, authors and educators – to stand together protecting this fundamental right for everyone and for future generations. We can never take this precious right for granted.”

By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship. The books featured during Banned Books Week have all been targeted with removal or restrictions in libraries and schools. While books have been and continue to be banned, part of the Banned Books Week celebration is the fact that, in a majority of cases, the books have remained available. This happens only thanks to the efforts of librarians, teachers, students, and community members who stand up and speak out for the freedom to read.

Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, American Library Association, American Society of Journalists and Authors, Association of American Publishers; Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Freedom to Read Foundation, National Association of College Stores, National Coalition Against Censorship, National Council of Teachers of English, PEN American Center, People For the American Way and Project Censored. It is endorsed by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress.

For more information on Banned Books Week, book challenges and censorship, please visit the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom’s Banned Books website or bannedbooksweek.org.