The Galesburg Public Library is in the running to receive up to $100,000 in grants to build a technology lab in their new building, and they are asking for community support to help achieve that funding.
Through the A Community Thrives Challenge, the library is accepting donations between July 19 and August 13, and if they raise at least $6,000, they will be eligible for bonus grants ranging from $3,000 to $100,000. Funds raised through local donations and through bonus grants will be used to build and equip a tech lab in the new building. As of July 21, two days into the challenge, they have raised $3,900.
Each year, library staff and volunteers offer more than 160 hours of one-on-one computer coaching and provide computer access to approximately seventy computer users each day. In the new building, the library plans to install a technology lab which will allow for training, teamwork, and discovery. In this space, the library will introduce new technologies to users of all ages, interests, and abilities and will invite groups to utilize the space together to accomplish their own educational goals. The A Community Thrives Challenge provides the Galesburg community a chance to come together to create a space that fosters independence, innovation, and collaboration.
Library Director Noelle Thompson sees a tech lab as a necessary addition to the new library: “A tech lab will help us bridge the digital divide, provide equitable services, equip people for the workforce or higher education, introduce new technologies to our community, and serve groups in need of a meeting space with computer access.” To donate to the A Community Thrives Challenge, visit galesburglibrary.org, like the Galesburg Public Library Foundation on facebook, or stop in the library.
A Community Thrives is a grantmaking and crowdfunding program from the USA TODAY NETWORK. The initiative is part of the Gannett Foundation and supports nonprofit organizations with projects focused on community building. Since 2017, the program has helped to distribute more than $12.2 million from donations and grants across the nation.
The mission of the Galesburg Public Library is to serve the community as a general center of information and to provide opportunity and encouragement for people to use its services and materials to meet their educational, personal, professional, recreational and cultural needs.
The Galesburg Public Library is located at 40 East Simmons Street in Galesburg. For more information, contact Heather Sipes at heather.sipes@thegplf.org or 309.343.6118.