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Boundary County Library awarded funding
for technology center |
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December 11, 2014 |
by Katie Colson
The Boundary County Library has received two
grants, an Idaho Department of Commerce Gem
Grant, and a USDA Rural Development Grant, to
fund a digital technology center that will equip
residents of Bonners Ferry with the new
technologies that are becoming increasingly
necessary in the modern world.
"The Library’s goal for this endeavor is to
provide people with a toolbox," says Library
Director Sandra Ashworth. "This will allow them
access to new ideas and technologies that they
can use to make Bonners Ferry a more successful
place."
The Boundary County library is set to receive an
Idaho Gem Grant amounting to $35,000. Gem Grants
are awarded to “programs designed to help rural
Idaho communities implement economic development
strategies/projects.”
The Library also received a grant from the USDA
amounting to $35,000. This grant focused on
projects that help develop strategies for
improvement in rural areas. The application for
the grant was initially submitted at the state
level, but was sent on to the national level to
hasten funding for what the state saw as an
influential project. The national office
receives many such grant requests and organizes
them under a ranking system. The library project
was ranked high because of the poverty level in
the community it will benefit. This grant was
submitted in early August, and was funded on
Sept. 11.
The Library has already begun the rearranging to
prepare for the new technology space. The staff
offices downstairs are being compressed to make
room for these new areas. The back offices are
being renovated to become the new technology
centers. With the size constraints in the
downstairs area, the staff is making do, and are
determined to make this project work.
The new digital technology center will include a
multimedia studio, a business tech center, and a
Fab Lab. The Fab Lab is an outreach program from
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, whose
goal is “to develop programmable molecular
assemblers” according to MIT’s Fab Lab overview.
To that end, the Fab Lab at the library will
include a shop bot, 3-D printers, milling
machines, and more. Due to size constraints, the
library was only able to build the smallest
qualified Fab Lab. There will be no welding
booths, and the Fab Lab will be geared mostly
towards composites like plastic and wood.
The remaining funding for this project came from
the private sector and the Library itself. The
Library used part of it’s own funding to pay for
some of the remodel that will have to occur to
accommodate the new centers. "The cost of a new
furnace alone will be several thousand dollars,
but will take up less space and will be more
efficient," Ashworth says. Private businesses
have also donated to this cause. Avista has
donated $2,000 for the furnace and Idaho Forest
Group has donated $1,000.
When asked what sort of help she had to put
these grants together, Ashworth said she did it
herself.
“It’s a part of my job,” she said simply.
Ashworth has observed the new online trend in
education and feels the library is well-placed
to assist locals in this changing educational
climate. In Bonners Ferry, she has seen the need
for new technologies to catch the community up
with the rest of the world. Ashworth has a
vision for this little community as a modern,
successful place, where people can live and
thrive, and she is determined to see her vision
come to fruition. |
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