The Staying Connected grants will support hardware upgrades and replacements, particularly in areas with persistent poverty; Internet connectivity upgrades, including broadband connections; and technical support and technology training programs. The grant program aims to support state library agencies efforts to build partnerships with government entities, businesses, other foundations, and individuals. The foundation hopes the Staying Connected grants “will serve as a catalyst for others to support the public library as an institution and to make a priority of providing broad public access to information technologies.”
The foundation has sent applications to all state library agencies, to be submitted in 2003 and 2004. Agencies will have three years to expend the funds. The grant amounts will be based on the information used to determine past foundation grants, actual and estimated costs for computers and training, and additional information gained from an analysis of high-poverty areas. The foundation will match funds at a two-to-one ratio, up to the total amount for which each state is eligible.
2003 is the last year in the Gates Foundation’s five-year initiative to place computers in libraries across the country. The sustainability grants are another in a series of efforts to maximize the impact of the nearly $180 million the foundation has already invested. Continuing support for libraries includes $1.05 million to Libraries for the Future for a 10-state access network and $9 million to OCLC for a web-based, public-access computing portal.
Posted October 20, 2003.