The Illinois School for the Visually Impaired is one of a handful of libraries in West Central Illinois being awarded grants for their focus on pandemic recovery.
Illinois Secretary of State and State Librarian Jesse White announced Thursday that nearly $6 million in grant funding has been awarded to libraries focused on responding directly to the COVID-19 pandemic by modifying services, transforming spaces, and developing resources for their local recovering workforce. The grants range from $5,000 to more than $1 million across 211 academic, school, special, and public libraries throughout the state.
The library in the Illinois School for the Visually Impaired was awarded nearly $30,000 through the program. Other facilities awarded grants in the WLDS reporting area were AC Central in Ashland which received $6,730, the Brown County Community Unit School District receiving $10,000, and the Petersburg Public Library which received just over $46,000.
White says in the announcement that he applauds the library community in Illinois for their hard work as they continue to provide essential services during this challenging time.
Grants were awarded under three categories, Bouncing Back from the Pandemic which included those that worked to develop resources for the local workforce. Expansion of Digital Inclusion, focusing on facilities that restored services and enhanced digital inclusion efforts such as hot spots, laptops, and other devices, and On the Road to Recovery which included libraries that prioritized health and safety while focusing on restoration of the library’s capacity to operate and offer clean, safe library spaces while preventing the spread of COVID-19.