A state library grant will allow the Adair County Public Library to update its technology.
The library applied for the technology grant in January and received the grant in March. The library will use the money from the grant to buy a new web and data server and 10 new computers. It will fund 75 percent of the costs for the updates, or about $13,500, and the library will pay the other 25 percent.
Library Director Jami Livingston said she found and wrote the grant application herself. Livingston said she and the Adair County Public Library Board of Trustees were talking about technology upgrades for about a year before sending in the grant application.
Laurie Griego, secretary of the Adair County Public Library Board of Trustees, said the Board oversees all the big decisions regarding the library. She said it approves the part of the budget that deals with grants because most grants require some monetary match.
Griego said the new technology will help keep the library current and encourage people to keep coming to the library.
“Each year we allocate a certain amount of money that [the library director] can use to match the grants,” Griego said. “A lot of people only have access to internet through the library, so it helps us meet the needs of the community and helps us provide information that is pertinent to 2018 and beyond.”
Livingston said some of the computers’ keyboards have already been replaced because the letters were wearing off from heavy use.
“I knew our public computers were getting older, kind of slowing down a little bit and showing some wear,” Livingston said. “We see people in here every day looking for jobs, submitting resumes or applications online, emailing [and] using Facebook. We have kids come in after school and use the computers for their homework.”
Livingston said the library’s mission is to provide knowledge to the Adair County community for lifelong learning and entertainment and promote literacy with children.
“We provide services for babies up to senior citizens, and we are here for our community in whatever way we can be,” Livingston said.