CRAFTSBURY COMMON – The Craftsbury Public Library has received a $9,130 grant to help upgrade its aging computer network. Library Director Susan O’Connell said she had been keeping public access computers purchased in 2012 running with “duct tape, luck and spare parts salvaged from parts computers stored in the basement.”
When the basement flooded in July 2023, those computers were lost and there were bigger issues that needed to be addressed immediately, such as battery storage for the solar panels and parts of the book collection, O’Connell said. “Those losses were addressed by other grant funds from the Vermont Community Foundation and the Vermont Public Library Foundation.” “The loss of the spare computers has become an issue more recently, and highlighted the fact that we really needed to update our entire system,” she said.
The Waterwheel Foundation Fund (of the Vermont Community Foundation) is affiliated with the band Phish. They made a $90,000 donation for grants to be administered by the Vermont Library Association to help Vermont Libraries affected by the flooding in July 2023.
The library applied in October and funds were received at the end of November, said O’Connell. The library has already purchased seven new desktops which she is now in the process of setting up.
The library’s laptop computers will soon be replaced as well with funds from the Waterwheel Foundation, she said. The new computers are much faster and more up to date, and they have all the latest security features to help keep information safe online, said O’Connell, who added. she looks forward to having computers that are running a current Windows 11 version.
“Libraries serve as information hubs, gathering spaces, and welcoming centers in towns, villages, and cities across our state,” said Margaret Woodruff, Vermont Library Association Government Relations and Advocacy Chair. “The damage inflicted by the July 2023 storms and subsequent flooding affected entire communities beyond the building. It is a testament to the impacted libraries’ resiliency that the staff pivoted to continue to provide essential services to their communities with creativity and improvisation.”
