SIRSI Leader In Library Technology Grant winner named

Contact: Cheryl Malden


312-280-3247


cmalden@ala.org

ALA News Release


For Immediate Release


May 2001

SIRSI Leader In Library Technology Grant winner named

The Long Island (Maine) Community Library is the winner of the American Library Association (ALA) SIRSI Leader In Library Technology Grant for its project "Long Island Library Expansion Project - Technology Center."

The $10,000 grant, sponsored by the SIRSI Corporation, is given to a library for projects that make creative or groundbreaking use of technology to deliver services to the library's community.

The library's project brings leading-edge library services to an isolated island with a population of 180 in the winter and 1000 in the summer. The 26 middle and high school students who commute via ferryboat to Portland School are the primary targets of the new technology center. For much of the island's population, the center will be their only access to a computer. The goal of the technology center is to offer word processing and other basic application software; full Internet access, including e-mail and electronic databases; state-of-the-art printers, scanners and fax machines; adult education classes; and Internet TV (ITV) courses aimed at increasing computer literacy.

"The award committee was very impressed with the resourcefulness of the community in creating and continuously improving its library," Award Chair Bernadette Freedman said. "Its ability to raise funds and effectively utilize scant resources are highly commendable."

The SIRSI Leader In Library Technology Grant will be presented Tuesday, June 19, during the ALA Annual Conference in San Francisco.