The Farmington Public Library, seen here on Tuesday, Oct. 31, is looking for suggestions on how to expand its services to better serve the more rural members of the Farmington community. Brian Ponce/Franklin Journal
FARMINGTON — The Farmington Public Library [FPL] is reaching to the community for suggestions on how to utilize $10,000 in grant funding that was issued to the library earlier this year. The funds were distributed through the American Library Association through the Libraries Transforming Communities: Accessible Small and Rural Communities grant program.
The program promises $7 million in grants to small and rural libraries to increase the accessibility of facilities, services, and programs to better serve people with disabilities, the website states.
FPL plans to implement a range of services specially designed to meet the needs of members in the Farmington community and is looking to the community for suggestions on ways it could expand services to rural or homebound residents.
Some ideas FPL is considering include:
• Delivery of library materials to assisted living facilities and patron homes within a certain radius.
• Expanding the library collection in accessible formats, such as large print books, digital audiobooks and eBooks.
• Tablets with cellular data enabled to loan out for patrons to have more easily accessible electronic resources.
According to Library Director Jessica Casey, the library has already spoken with numerous assisted living facilities in the area and will be implementing the plan to deliver library materials for those facilities that are interested. Patron homes are still in the air due to staff accessibility.
“Part of the grant is that they want us to have conversations with people in the community,” Casey said, “and really make sure that what we had planned to do is actually what people want.”
Those who have suggestions have a number of options to yield those suggestions. An online survey is posted on the library’s website, www.farmington.lib.me.us, and paper copies of the survey can be found at the library, 117 Academy Street. For those unable to take the online survey or visit the library in person, call the library at [207] 778-4312 to request a survey be mailed to you.
The survey will come with a self-addressed return envelope. You do not need to be a current patron of FPL to take the survey. All who live in the area are encouraged to provide feedback.
All input is welcome, not just in regards to the services relating to the grant. Any ideas for other things the library can help provide for the community and ways it can increase accessibility are welcomed.
A second round of grant funding is available, and based on the feedback from this survey, Casey will consider pursuing another round of grant funding.
“We might consider applying again for the second round depending on the community response we get to our plans for new services,” Casey shared in an email. “If we got some strong feedback from the community that they would like us to continue to build on this project and expand our services in this way [or in another way], we would love to hear it as that might lead to us applying for more funding during the second round.”
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