Grants

2/12/08

CEF LIBRARIES AMONG 421 LIBRARIES THROUGHOUT NEW YORK

TO GET $4.1 MILLION IN GRANTS FROM GATES FOUNDATION

Over the next 2 years, libraries in the Clinton Essex Franklin Library System will be receiving up to 70 new computers and associated equipment, software and services through a $118,514 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The Board of Regents today announced that 421 public libraries in high need communities throughout New York will be receiving more than 2,000 new computers through a $4.1 million grant from the Foundation. New York State is one of ten states receiving a total of $8.3 million in grants to help public libraries provide quality access to computers and the Internet.

     The new “Opportunity Online” hardware grants are available to public libraries serving communities with high concentrations of poverty and that are at risk of having outdated technology.

     Libraries that will be receiving grants are located in all 62 of New York’s counties. The list of libraries is available at the following link: http://www.nysl.nysed.gov.

         Many libraries struggle to keep pace with technology and rapidly increasing community demand for these services.  A recent national survey revealed that four out of five public libraries say they do not have enough computers to meet their community’s needs.  With nearly half of the nation’s public libraries reporting decreased or flat public funding in 2006, inadequate technology services persist in many libraries.

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