MASON CITY – The Mason City Public Library was awarded $5000 in a grant from the State Library of Iowa from American Rescue Plan Act funds. The grant will go towards purchasing e-books and e-audio books for the library to respond to the pandemic.
Library Director Mary Markwalter said that “the additional e-books and e-audio books are will help the library build the digital collections. Digital collections are a very important part of the library collections and demand for digital resources has greatly increased due to the pandemic.”
The State Library of Iowa awarded libraries up to $5,000 for Iowa public libraries from a portion of its of funding from the American Rescue Plan Act. The grant funds may be used for materials or technology to support digital inclusion efforts to enable libraries to reach residents, especially in support of education, health, and workforce development needs; or to respond to the pandemic and implement public health protocols.
“We are excited to offer these ARPA grants to public libraries and anticipate the positive outcomes that will result, especially because we believe the ones who will benefit most are library patrons.” said Michael Scott, State Librarian of Iowa.
The American Rescue Plan Act is a federal program that was approved by congress and signed by President Biden in March 2021. The State Library received an allotment from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which determined the priorities and rules surrounding how the funds may be used in libraries.
For more information on the Mason City Public Library, go to www.mcpl.org.
