Insight

              Secretary White awards “Live & Learn” Construction Grants
May/June
2009
A Newsletter from the Illinois State Library — Jesse White, Secretary of State & State Librarian
in this issue
Secretary White awards
construction grants
Big response to LSTA grants
“On the Front Lines”
Letters About Literature
winners announced
$14 million awarded
to public libraries
Illinois Reading Council
donates books
Secretary of State Jesse White recently
awarded grants to 17 Illinois public
libraries through the “Live & Learn”
Construction Grant Program. The
competitive grants assist public
libraries in paying for the cost of proj-ects
such as remodeling for handi-capped
accessibility, new carpeting,
interior or exterior painting and, in
some cases, new construction or addi-tions
to existing facilities.
“Many of our public libraries simply
don’t have sufficient funds to pay for
these essential capital improvements
on their own,” said Secretary White.
“Our public libraries are cornerstones
of our communities, and they have
never been more important than they
are today. More and more citizens
are using their local libraries during
these difficult economic times. I am
pleased to be able to award these
grants to help maintain our public
libraries as the best resources for
information available to the people of
Illinois.”
Libraries receiving construction grants
are:
• Benton Public Library District-
$16,600
• Prairie Trails Public Library District
in Burbank-$26,000
• Carmi Public Library-$17,400
• Chester Public Library-$25,000
• Coulterville Public Library-$25,000
• Freeburg Area Library District-
$125,000
• Hanover Township Library-$50,000
• Mahomet Public Library District-
$125,000
• McCoy Memorial Library in
McLeansboro-$24,000
• Mt. Carmel Public Library-$21,000
• Nokomis Public Library-$24,975
• Norris City Memorial Public Library
District-$24,220
• Reddick Public Library District in
Ottawa-$24,561
• Pekin Public Library-$24,864
• Elwood Township Carnegie Library
in Ridge Farm-$17,400
• Vienna Carnegie Public Library-
$25,000
• Wayne City Public Library-$25,000
Big response to LSTA grants
Based on the large number of FY10
LSTA grant letters of intent received
by the State Library, the grants are
going to be very competitive this
year. More than $13 million has
been requested from 640 letters of
intent. About $3.5 million will be
available for grants. Following is the
breakdown of the types of grants
and dollars requested in the letters
of intent:
• In Sync With Technology — 236
requests totaling $6,555,056
• READ: Reading for Education &
Development — 244 requests
totaling $3,415,413
• Dreamcatcher — 108 requests
totaling $1,619,471
• Digital Imaging — 52 requests
totaling $1,693,571
LSTA grant recipients will be
announced in September.