Gates Foundation awards $44,850 for computers in 8 Valley libraries

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN — The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded $44,850 for additional public-access computers in eight local library branches.

Under the grant, new computer terminals will be installed in these branches: Brownlee Woods, Campbell, East Side, Lake Milton, Newport, Sebring, Struthers and West Side.

The exact number of new terminals to be installed is still to be determined by local library officials, said Janet Loew, communications and public-relations director for the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, which received the grant.

The grant required a 25 percent local share, which came from these sources: The Youngstown Foundation, $7,000; Friends of PLYMC, $5,000; and $1,000 each from the Friends of Poland, Boardman and Austintown libraries.

This is the second Gates Foundation grant received by the local library system for public-access computers and related equipment — the first having been $214,768 in 2001, Loew said.

“Many of our residents have only one available source for Internet and computer access — their local library,” observed Carlton Sears, library director, who explained the importance of the Gates Foundation and matching grants.

Library computers are heavily used by those who are searching for a job, submitting r sum s and applying for jobs and benefits, he noted. Due to reduced library funding, money hasn’t been available to replace worn computers for two years, Sears added.

The library system has 134 public-access computers in a large main-library computer center and spread across all of its 15 branches.

The library system also will be eligible this year for an additional $24,700 Gates Foundation grant for public-access computers if it can raise an equal amount of matching money locally.