The Moniteau County Library Board met Jan. 19 to discuss good news related to the library and its influence on the community.
Library Director Connie Walker said the Moniteau County Library has received a sizable grant for its summer reading program as well as new computers ready for installation.
Walker said the Moniteau County Library was awarded $7,923 by the Missouri State Library through its 2022 summer grant program.
She and her staff haven’t gotten too far into planning just yet for the season, but she said she would like the community to know they have a lot of possibilities in mind for when summer finally comes.
“We really haven’t started planning too far yet because the grants were just awarded last week or so,” Walker said. “Although, (we do know) this year’s theme is ‘an ocean of possibilities.’ It’s everything about the oceans and so that’ll be a fun theme to work with.”
She addedthe library is currently in the process of getting 22 new computers for its facilities that will be installed at a much sooner date.
“These computers were a designated donation,” Walker said. “We hope to have those start actually installing them and in the library around late February or early March.”
To make room for the new computers, she said, 14 older desktops will be refurbished and resold to the public for $90-$125, depending on their condition. By contrast, the 22 newer models are currently being built for installation with the intent of significant upgrades that would benefit patrons moving forward.
“We currently have Windows 10, but we’re hoping to get Windows 11 because it’s been on the market long enough to have all the bugs out of it,” Walker said. “We also hope to upgrade from Office 2016 to Office 21. We’re also going to be installing security package software … for when a patron has been on a public computer, when they log off, it completely wipes the hard drive clean of where they’ve been. Nothing is captured, and it goes back to the original setting that protects the public.”
With new technology comes new opportunities for the community. She said these computers will have 24-inch curved monitors and will be quite an upgrade to what is in place at the library currently.
Walker and the board also discussed the Winter Adult Checkout Challenge. She said 70 people are participating in the event at the moment. Every time a patron checks out a book, he or she then gets to put an entry in for a gift basket.
The challenge includes 12 gift baskets, each with a different theme and with various materials for library patrons to enjoy. Winners will be drawn on the first Monday of March as the contest goes through January and February.
Source: https://www.californiademocrat.com/news/2022/jan/26/moniteau-county-library-receives-grant-and-new/