The Kenai City Council appropriated funds from the Public Library Association and AT&T for the Kenai Community Library’s selected participation in the 2022-2023 PLA Digital Literacy Workshop Incentive. It’s offered by the American Library Association through its division the Public Library Association. The purpose is to expand digital literacy learning opportunities and help bridge the digital divide in the community.
“This was an application, this is the first time that the library has received,” according to City Manager Paul Ostrander. “Ms. Wolfe applied for this. It provides for basic digital literacy skills. Those within our community that don’t have the literacy skills in our digital world, this will help them learn some of those basic skills. There’s going to be two things that Katja’s group is going to do. One is to just a general audience of the community and then there’s going to be a second one that’s going to be geared for the needs of our senior residents and that’s going to held at the senior center. It’s an exciting opportunity for some of these folks that need those essential skills to learn them through the library.”
The library will offer instructor-led workshops that focus on basic but essential digital literacy skills. Funds from this incentive program will be used to purchase updated computer manuals, supplies for workshops (i.e., food, flash drives, and handouts), and computer equipment and supplies.
Library Director Katja Wolfe told the city council, “Part of the grant is an advertising budget so we’ll have about $500 that we can spend on advertising on Facebook, which seems to be working for us very well, and then also in the paper and on the radio.”
The funds that the City Manager is accepting is in the amount of $4,000.