By Dan Spalding
InkFreeNews

WARSAW —  Warsaw Community Public Library is delving deeper into interactive services.

Library Director Ann Zydek announced the library had received a $23,000 grant from the ARPA funds set aside for libraries in Indiana that will cover the cost for a software bundle and 86-inch screen that allows the library to tap into numerous programs for large and small-scale events in the meeting room and remotely.

Promethean ActivePanel has a wide assortment of educational tools that can benefit numerous groups and especially homeschool administrators, they said.

“Our homeschooler community should love it because they will have access to all kinds of programs that they probably didn’t have access to before,” said Assistant Director Joni Brookins.

The package cost a little more than $7,000.

The remaining $16,000 will be used to “grow digital content,” Zydek said.

Details about the grant were discussed at the library’s board meeting Monday, Oct. 18.

The board is also in the midst of setting up a system that would allow board members to attend remotely if needed. State law now permits board members of most governmental board meetings, including library boards, to attend meetings remotely under some conditions.

For now, the library is not planning to regularly live-stream its board meetings, Zydek said.

The board also adopted the 2022 budget and authorized Zydeck to take action to implement the spending plan.

WCPL’s total operating fund for 2022 is $3,594,529, an increase from last year’s operating budget of about $84,000. Funding for the library’s new community outreach department is included in the 2022 budget.

The library’s rainy day fund will be $275,000 when the new year arrives.