The Anchor Point Public Library will be getting an equipment upgrade soon.
On Monday, Nov. 27, Homer Foundation Executive Director Mike Miller presented the library with a check for $10,350 to purchase new computers for both patron use and for staff needs.
The funds for purchasing new computer equipment came to the library through a Community Impact Grant, which, according to the Homer Foundation website, is for requests for support that are over $5,000.
According to Miller, Community Impact Grants — as the name goes — are intended for projects that will “have a larger impact” on an area or community.
“This is our first Community Impact Grant in the Anchor Point area, we’re super excited about it,” Miller told the gathered library staff and board members on Monday. “This is such an impactful organization, the service you guys provide to the community here — not just the very easy access to books, but also the technology that goes along with it nowadays. We’re very happy to be giving this grant to you.”
Anchor Point Library director and board member Deanna Thomas began the application process for the grant in October of this year, collaborating with board treasurer Mary Perry to complete the application.
Library staff and board members were pleasantly surprised at the Homer Foundation’s quick time frame of awarding funds.
“We were down to two patron computers when we applied for this grant,” Thomas said. “Now we can order new computers right away, and maybe we can have them by January.”
According to Thomas, the library is required to purchase a minimum of five new computers with the grant funds. The library currently has four obsolete patron computers and two office units used by staff.
“We’re getting six new (Dell OptiPlex) computers,” Thomas said, explaining that five of those will be dedicated for patron use, with the sixth replacing an obsolete office unit.
The library’s current computers were obtained through the OWL Project, now called the Alaska Online With Libraries Program, in 2011.
The library initially applied to the Community Impact Grant program for $10,000. The Homer Foundation awarded an additional $350, which Thomas said will be used to purchase a new printer.
“We’ve had our (current) printer for about three and a half years, and we’ve printed or copied over 41,000 pages on it,” she said. She added that the new printer will be used for the different programs that the library offers, including Story Time and others.
In the future, the library plans to apply for a second grant through the Homer Foundation in order to purchase a commercial printer to better serve the community’s needs, including printing, copying and scanning documents.
For more information on the Anchor Point Public Library and the services it provides, visit www.anchorpointlibrary.com/index.html, or stop by the library at 34020 North Fork Road in Anchor Point.
