MARYLAND - Delmarva libraries were among 16 selected from throughout Maryland to receive funding totaling $268,000 for new projects and staff development.
The Worcester County Library will receive funding for the Worcester County Heritage Project, which aims to address gaps in local history by developing a series of digital videos. These videos will help visitors explore the area's shared cultural heritage and history.
Wicomico Public Libraries has plans for a few different projects. One includes using funds for two memory labs that will allow people with collections of analog media to convert and preserve them in easily-savable and reproducible digital formats. Funding was also secured for the county library system to conduct a feasibility study for a site to replace its current flagship Paul S. Sarbanes library in downtown Salisbury with a renovated facility on the east side of the city.
The Talbot County Free Library plans to use funding to purchase equipment and collections for young children as well as to support a series of sensory programs for kids and their caregivers. These programs will focus on building skills needed for literacy development.
The Queen Anne's County Library system will contract with an outside agency to conduct a feasibility study for a new branch in northern Queen Anne's County. It will also use funding to purchase dispensers and products for public restrooms, specifically period products, to support those who live in poverty and students who walk to library locations after school.
In Kent County, the public library will fund its Cultivating Community series, which aims to engage community members from different generations through hands-on gardening and related educational programs.
These library services grants are supported by the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services. Every year, the Maryland State Library Agency distributes nearly $2 million of Library Services and Technology Act funds to libraries throughout Maryland, according to the agency.
"As Maryland's public libraries continue to grow, Library Services and Technology Act funding is critical to meet the changing needs of the communities we serve," said Maryland State Librarian Morgan Lehr Miller.
