The Soldotna City Council passed two ordinances related to ARPA grant funds that benefit the Joyce K. Carver Memorial Soldotna Public Library. One would increase revenues and appropriations by $18,770 through the Department of Education and Early Development for Chromebooks, mobile hotspots, and AWE Literacy Stations.
Council had questions for City Librarian, Rachel Nash, regarding the use of renting Chromebooks and software for the laptops:
“The Chromebooks are for circulation. The management software is to make sure that confidentiality is maintained. So if someone forgets to logout of their Gmail or what have you, it will wipe it completely clean after the patron turns it back in. We currently check out laptops and our laptops I believe are going on four years old now. So, as you may know, that’s pretty old for a laptop. Other libraries in the state and nationwide have had similar programs and, for instance, Kenai and theirs is very, very popular, they can’t keep the Chromebooks on the shelf. Yes, we believe that it’ll continue to be popular. There have been times that we haven’t had enough laptops, but usually, the main issue is that the laptops are old enough that they’re not working properly. We want to make sure to maintain good services for our patrons.”
Nash says that the mobile hotspots provide an opportunity for people in the community to connect to the internet given the struggles some Alaskans on the Kenai Peninsula have accessing it.
The second ordinance would increase revenues and appropriations by $6,000 for an ARPA grant for COVID-19 response and recovery, which will purchase supplies and equipment. Additionally, this grant funding would be used to purchase books, magazines, audio/visual and other physical materials for the library.
Both ordinances unanimously passed the Soldotna City Council.