TSLAC Cares Grant Program - Recipients
CARES Grants for Texas Libraries - Assisting Communities in Response to COVID-19
Cycle 1
Allen Public Library
$16,529.00
Allen Public Library will use grant funds to purchase a mobile check-out unit and a library document station to help serve community needs and enable social distancing. These resources will allow patrons to access library resources with less contact to other persons or staff.
Atlanta Public Library
$21,096.00
The Atlanta Public Library will use grant funds to expand its wi-fi capacity and enable better social distancing for in-person use of the facility. Additionally, the library also requested support for cleaning supplies and materials needed to serve the public.
Austin Public Library
$49,975.00
The Austin Public Library will use grant funds to provide Chromebooks and 150 hotspots to help close the digital divide in the Austin area. Targeted but not limited to students needing access from home, increased connectivity will mean that citizens will be empowered to access educational, government and medical resources, pursue employment, and connect with family. TSLAC CARES funds will also support the purchase of plexiglass dividers to be used in the library to enhance safety for persons accessing computer stations.
Bastrop Public Library
$7,902.00
Bastrop Public Library will use grant funds to support the addition of hardware, software, accessories, and furniture needed to implement both contactless and touchless self-checkout options for users.
BiblioTech
$49,999.00
BiblioTech will use TSLAC CARES funds to purchase 180 hotspots for distribution to high school seniors in Bexar County in partnership with the San Antonio Independent School District and the Harlandale Independent School District. These hotspots will allow students to connect to the classroom and will offer their parents access to resources to continue their own online training and job application process. These hotspots will also give these students and families readily available access to the entire digital collection of BiblioTech, the country's first all-digital public library.
Bonham Public Library
$22,726.00
Bonham Public Library will use grant funds to reduce direct patron/staff contact without reducing customer service, and to improve technical services while allowing for social distancing and limits on the number of patrons in the library. This includes the purchase of self-serve checkout kiosks, a hands-free print and payment station, expansion of wi-fi access to new outdoor seating areas, wi-fi hotspots and tablets that may be checked out for use at home, and video equipment for the development of online programming.
Bowie Public Library
$24,598.00
Bowie Public Library will use grant funds to purchase technology, including laptops for check-out, printers for public use, and mobile hotspots. The library plans to augment this technology with materials specifically designed to support the needs of job seekers.
Buda Public Library
$17,500.00
Buda Public Library will use grant funds for equipment to enable the creation and deployment of virtual community programming as well as take-home activity kits to continue supporting learning.
Carrollton Public Library
$15,400.00
Grant funds will enable the Carrollton Public Library to increase internet accessibility to library users by purchasing 40 mobile hotspots and service for weekly circulation. Mobile hotspots will be available to residents to assist with schoolwork, job hunting, and technical skill building as they cope with the ongoing limitations and closures due to COVID-19. Mobile hotspots will provide safe, convenient internet service to Carrollton residents.
Dallas Public Library
$42,484.00
Dallas Public Library requested funds for the purchase of chrome books, wired mice, USB drives, carrying cases, and console management subscriptions in order to provide access to computers and internet access to individuals who would otherwise not be able to have it. The program is aimed at helping to bridge the digital divide and balance the technological inequity faced by low-income citizens.
Gatesville Public Library
$21,838.00
Gatesville Public Library requested funds for 10 hotspots and 10 laptops and capacity for wireless printing for patrons, as well as equipment to enable the library to produce and offer virtual programming for students. The library additionally requested funds for personal protective equipment for staff.
Harlingen Public Library
$25,000.00
Grant funds will provide Harlingen Public Library with a self-checkout service designed to allow community members to safely borrow materials, pay fines, and learn about library resources and local services. It also protects library staff by reducing the need for them to closely interact with library patrons. Broadly, the purpose of the self-checkout system is to help community members access library resources and local information while protecting the health and safety of patrons and library staff.
Irving Public Library
$43,685.00
Irving Public Library will use the grant to fund the purchase of three contactless/self-service stations for with six tablets for checkout. The tablets will enable our users to access the library’s resources while remaining safe and socially distant. The library also requested support for cleaning supplies.
Johnson City Library
$19,199.00
The Johnson City Library is partnering with four community-based organizations to address digital inclusion needs that have substantially grown during COVID-19 crisis.
Judy B McDonald Public Library
$13,126.00
Grant funds will enable the Judy B. McDonald Public Library to provide online homework help, hotspots, and laptops for community. The library will subscribe to an online homework help program providing tutoring for students of all ages and career assistance for veterans. Hotspots will be loaned to apartment complexes for use by their residents in community or laundry rooms, and the library will partner with the city’s Recreation Center to offer roaming internet service in area parks and neighborhoods with its Center vehicle. In addition, the library will continue working with the local school district to provide resources and will make laptops available for checkout by the families of City employees.
Kaufman County Library
$19,242.00
Grant funds will provide Kaufman County Library with higher wireless bandwidth, nine laptops, and six space-saving desktop workstations to serve the library's online learners. Increasing the library’s bandwidth allows students to upload and/or download larger amounts of content and increase data transfer capabilities. The laptops and workstations will be set up in meeting rooms and other designated areas to provide access while maintaining social distancing.
Kennedale Public Library
$8,997.00
Grant funds will provide Chromebooks & hotspots for checkout so that patrons who cannot afford internet services will be able to access technology as needed from home. Providing this service will allow residents to apply for unemployment, search for jobs, apply for needed government services and participate in vital telehealth services. Mobile printing and mobile self-check will also assist community members by offering access to high-demand faxing, copying, printing services, as well as self-check that enables patrons to quickly get in and out of the library.
Laredo Public Library
$50,000.00
Laredo Public Library requested grant funds to purchase laptops to circulate to citizens, equipment to create online programming with high-quality production value, and provide STEM resources and learning kits to support instruction.
Little Elm Public Library
$16,799.00
Little Elm Public Library will use grant funds to increase its mobile hotspot lending program, secure remote access software to allow library staff to provide technology support remotely to the library patrons, and upgrade computers for public use.
Marathon Public Library
$25,000.00
Marathon Public Library requested grant funds for mobile hotspots, iPads, equipment for virtual programming, and personal protective equipment. The library is focused on providing a greater means for the community to access the internet as well as library resources.
Mayor Joe V. Sanchez Public Library
$24,937.00
Mayor Joe V. Sanchez Public Library will use grant funds to expand digital services and the library’s hotspot lending program. The library also requested support for equipment to facilitate curbside services, expand outdoor wireless capacity, and implement virtual programming, as well as support for cleaning supplies.
McCulloch County Library
$24,986.00
McCulloch County Library requested funds to satisfy the educational needs of McCulloch County students with the addition of 54 laptops, 25 iPads, and 42 sets of noise canceling headphones to augment the library's public technology collection.
Mesquite Public Library
$23,708.00
Mesquite Public Library will use grant funds to purchase hotspots and equipment to create a Job Seeker Support initiative. The library also requested support for furniture to help implement social distancing.
Nancy Carol Roberts Memorial Library
$24,258.00
Nancy Carol Roberts Memorial Library will use funds to increase community digital inclusion. By partnering with Brenham ISD, the library will purchase a distance learning bundle which includes LTE Chromebooks, hotspots, and a data plan. The library will also secure an interactive white board to support programming needs and workforce resource materials.
North Richland Hills Public Library
$20,357.00
To meet the need for social distancing, contact-less circulation, and effective curbside delivery, the Library will use grant funds to obtain software that will support stand-alone checkout kiosks, contact-less circulation through a mobile app checkout, and curbside delivery management. Implementing these services will de-anchor patrons from circulation desks and limited, stationary self-check stations. The Library anticipates library users will check out more materials, benefit from increased efficiency of curbside pickups, and report increased satisfaction.
Nueces County Keach Family Library
$49,671.00
The goal of the Nueces County Libraries TECH2Go is to help eliminate digital inclusion barriers in Nueces County. Grant funds will support the purchase of a self-service station to check out tablets, laptops, hotspots, increased internet and wi-fi speed that will reach into the library’s parking lot, enhanced website capabilities for users, video equipment for remote programming, and an online tutoring program for young and adult learners.
Patrick Heath Public Library
$7,913.00
The Patrick Heath Public Library will use grant funds to reimburse purchases made to keep the community of Boerne safe and allow broad use of the library building and technology access. The library purchased an automated temperature check station for the front of the library, regular building sanitization, social distancing signage and markers, sneeze shields and a portable hand sanitization station.
Pottsboro Area Public Library
$24,852.00
Pottsboro Area Public Library will use grant funds in an innovative project to partner with the Educational Broadcast Service to use reserved spectrum to provide home internet access to teachers and high school and college students without such access. The TSLAC CARES grant will fund the purchase of 40 routers to receive the EBS spectrum signal in selected low-income students' homes within reach of the signal.
Rio Grande City Public Library
$25,000.00
The Rio Grande City Public Library will use grant funds to purchase laptops and workstations to support the needs of a community with limited access to computers and internet at home. This will allow the library to more adequately meet the needs of its patrons, giving more students access to computers in order to fulfill class requirements, as well as allowing more adults to apply for and take advantage of resources available to them in response to COVID-19, such as unemployment benefits and job searches. Funds will also support the purchase of 3D supplies to print face masks and shields for the community.
Rita & Truett Smith Public Library
$24,909.00
Rita & Truett Smith Public Library will use funds to support learning at home (and providing back up for parents) by providing access to an online tutoring service. The library will also purchase 25 mobile hotspots for checkout and will facilitate remote access by adding Chromebooks and software to better enable chat and online customer services.
Riter C. Hulsey Public Library
$24,101.00
Riter C. Hulsey Public Library will use grant funds to purchase eight new laptops for public use as well as new circulating hotspots to facilitate home internet access. Additionally, the library will procure equipment to allow for contact-free service by securing a self-checkout kiosk and other equipment to allow patrons to access library services will minimizing physical contact.
Round Rock Public Library System
$25,000.00
Rock Public Library System requested funds to support contactless and curbside services. The library will add exterior outdoor lockers that will allow patrons (who will be provided codes when they request the checkout of materials or technology) to pick up resources 24/7.
San Antonio Public Library
$50,000.00
San Antonio Public Library will grant funds to focus on digital inclusion in its COVID-19 response by increasing use and awareness of its free wi-fi in parking areas by boosting signals where needed and designating increase use areas. Additionally, the library will expand the reach of the library's wi-fi through the retrofit and redeployment of four existing library vehicles, which will be sent throughout the city in areas of need to provide free wi-fi in parks and other areas at regularly established times.
Schertz Public Library
$24,702.00
Schertz Public Library will use grant funds to purchase equipment and software to create virtual programming and in-demand e-books. The Library will also purchase access to popular online crafting resources, as well as content that will enhance educational and professional goals. Funds will also support creating a safe environment for community users with contactless check-out and extra monitors that will enable library staff to assist patrons one-on-one without close contact.
Texas Woman's University
$49,980.00
Texas Woman’s University Libraries’ program will provide mobile hotspots and laptops to students who reside in lower economic neighborhoods. Funds will give these students long term access to the digital tools they need to adequately access their courses online; needed data, information, and knowledge; and the necessary digital tools to successfully complete their coursework. Such access provides economically challenged undergraduate and graduate students at TWU with the same equitable access as is provided to more affluent students, thus narrowing this portion of the digital divide.
The Colony Public Library
$7,571.00
Grant funds will enable The Colony Public Library to expand internet service outside the walls of its building to the parking lot, meeting a community need for strong, accessible, 24/7 freely available wireless internet. Once installed, the library will connect with Lewisville Independent School District and other local social service organizations to raise awareness about this resource throughout the county.
Tom Green County Library System
$50,000.00
Tom Green County Library will use grant funds to install permanent hot spots throughout the community, with a particular emphasis on rural, outlying communities. TGCL will work with San Angelo ISD and the county's rural school districts to identify areas where students who receive free and reduced school lunch services reside, targeting those areas for public, communal hot spots. Placing hot spot stations throughout the community will get Internet services closer to where people live and work, allowing them to complete online tasks without the need to come to, or in, the library's four walls. Grant funds will also support expansion of the library’s popular hot spot lending program, the purchase of PPE, and 3D supplies to develop protective gear in-house.
University of Texas at San Antonio
$49,991.00
University of Texas at San Antonio will use grant funds to support student needs by purchasing 54 additional laptops for student use. The library anticipates immediate use for these devices as many students do not have sufficiently robust personal technology to meet course requirements.
Cycle 2
Alpine Public Library
$19,482
Alpine Public Library will improve services to the community by updating aging technology. Funds will support the purchase of workstations, a wireless printer, and Wi-Fi hotspots and Chromebooks for home use. Grant funds will also support online resources to enhance childrens’ literacy, including a summer reading program. Further, Alpine Public Library will purchase video equipment that will allow them to provide online content and programming for children and adults.
Brazoria County Library System
$39,858
Due to COVID, the BCLS has transitioned to virtual programming through use of iPads and Facebook Live/ YouTube channels. Video programming kits including microphones, backdrops and cameras will allow the branches to provide more advanced virtual programming and storytimes. Mobile handwashing stations will be stationed at the entrance to the branches to encourage greater cleanliness and sanitation. When face-to-face programming is reinstated, the stations will be very useful during and after storytimes with craft activities.
Brownwood Public Library
$11,406
The Brownwood Public Library will use grant funds to provide hotspots and tablets to students and community members to help bridge the digital divide. The library will also use the funds to support tutoring services and will create a series of workshops to help unemployed patrons find, apply for and succeed in their search for a job. Additionally, the library also requests support for cleaning supplies and a distanced Summer Reading Club.
Cedar Park Public Library
$24,605
Cedar Park Public Library will address the needs of patrons without reliable Wi-Fi by creating a “Wi-Fi Porch” on a covered colonnade that will extend the wireless Internet reach outside the building for 24 hours a day. Funds will support the acquisition of a new, segmented network for external wireless use and additional access points. The “Wi-Fi Porch” will also contain outdoor furniture allowing socially distanced seating within the wireless range. The Library also plans to acquire online homework help and other electronic resources to assist students learning remotely and those are who looking for employment. The Library will also develop take-home STEM craft kits to support online learning.
Claud H. Gilmer Memorial Library
$24,928
Internet access is a luxury item in many areas of Edwards County. According to Broadbandnow, 60% of residents are still severely limited in wired broadband choices. The Library will purchase mobile hotspots with unlimited data, laptops and Chromebooks that may be checked out, a device charging cart and transport bags for the equipment.
Cooke County Library
$9,444
The Cooke County Library is requesting funds to aid the library with programs, and tools to increase community access to vital technologies and services during COVID-19 and after. This includes a Wi-Fi booster, Wi-Fi hotspots, support for educational programming, materials for STEM kits, and a 3-D printer. Additional funds are needed for library initiatives that will support prevention, preparation and response to the COVID-19 emergency.
Corpus Christi Public Libraries
$20,504
Corpus Christi Public Libraries (CCPL) will develop ten kits that will consist of a laptop, webcam, microphone, projector and related accessories. These kits will be checked out to daycares so that they can participate in the libraries’ interactive live stream storytime and craft programs.
Denton Public Library
$20,929
Grant funding will be used to provide public access Wi-Fi in three library parking lots and the library's Reading Nook Park area, expand the library's circulation Wi-Fi hotspot collection with 15 additional hotspots, and purchase additional ebooks and digital audiobooks to better meet the increased demand for digital materials.
Dickinson Public Library
$23,958
The Dickinson Public Library will purchase new public computers and study carrels to provide a safe social distancing environment, along with additional furniture, laptops, and a job search database. The library plans to initiate a job search outreach by setting up pop-up job search classes in area apartment complex community rooms.
Driscoll Public Library
$18,162
Funds are requested to provide a Wi-Fi extender for the library. Outdoor furniture will allow patrons to access the internet remotely and safely. Driscoll Public Library will also purchase hot spots for patron check out as well as time and print management software that will allow staff to monitor and assist computer users remotely. Funds will also support safety supplies such as disinfectants, signage and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
Dustin Michael Sekula Memorial Library
$25,000
The Dustin Michael Sekula Memorial Library serves Edinburg and Hidalgo County, an area with a poverty rate twice the national average and one that has been hit hard by the COVID pandemic. With the onset of a school year based on remote learning, students are struggling to keep up in an already-disadvanted environment due to poverty, language, and/or technology barriers. Grant funds will increase digital access by expanding the Library’s Wi-Fi radius, purchase a mobile broadband router to turn the library’s van into a mobile hotspot, purchase an electronic tutoring database to assist students with homework, turn the library’s meeting room into a safe center where staff can assist parents and students by purchasing plexiglass barriers, and purchase a UV book sterilizer to sanitize returned materials.
Houston Public Library
$50,000
Developed by Houston Public Library (HPL) in partnership with Alief Independent School District (AISD), HPL Cares and Connects aims to bridge the digital divide exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This program will foster the already established relationship between HPL and AISD, which began in 2018 via the Learning Link program to support student education. HPL Cares and Connects will support remote learning by providing Smarter HotSpot devices and one-year data plans to 75 AISD students who do not have a computer or Internet access at home. Smarter HotSpots will come pre-loaded with apps for online classes, Learning Link access, and provide content filters and malware protection.
Howard College,
$11,064
Needs arising in Howard College libraries due to COVID-19 include creating a clean, safe, and usable physical space, providing resources for instructors teaching online, assisting students taking courses online, as well as the general public, and eliminating staff involvement in some services to reduce exposure to COVID-19. Howard College libraries plan to meet these needs by creating a Zoom Room, adding more online course functionality in study rooms, providing the means to social distance while working in the physical library space, providing cleaning stations, offering self-checkout, and providing users with tools to meet their at-home needs.
Howard County Library
$16,489
Howard County Library will acquire materials that will enable them to support literacy and education while face-to-face children’s programs are unavailable, provide internet access for community members without this service, and provide contactless service to keep library patrons safe. Funds will support the acquisition of literacy tablets loaded with educational materials, STEAM Kits that can be checked out, Wi-Fi hotspots for patron checkout, additional access points to extend internet services outside the library building, a self-checkout kiosk, and video equipment to create quality online programming.
Jennie Trent Dew Library
$11,585
The Jennie Trent Dew Library will provide digital access and inclusion for Mills County residents in a safe environment during and after COVID 19 pandemic. Funds will support the acquisition of protective equipment within the library, laptops for enhanced access for patrons, audio-visual equipment, and a Zoom license that patrons can use for meetings, telehealth, and other business.
Lake Travis Community Library
$16,103
Library staff have identified reliable and affordable internet access as a key need in the community following the pandemic. Grant funds will be used to expand and enhance Wi-Fi service at the main library, increase the number of mobile Wi-Fi hotspots for checkout, work with community partners to establish Wi-Fi hotspots in areas of need throughout the district, and add secure and confidential mobile printing services. Project partners include Lake Travis Crisis Ministries, Partners in Hope, Armadillo RV Park, Lake Travis Inn & RV Park, La Hacienda RV Resort & Cottages, Apache Shores Property Owners Association, and Highway 71 Mobile Home Park.
The Library at Cedar Creek Lake
$6,889
As a means of promoting social distancing and continuing to provide service to the community in a safe manner, The Library at Cedar Creek Lake plans to lessen the traffic accumulating at the circulations desk by installing acrylic health shields and implementing new self-checkout options within the library through both a kiosk and app. Additionally, the library intends to upgrade Wi-Fi and Internet capabilities with new routers and a mesh networking system in order to provide more consistent and reliable coverage both within and directly outside the library.
Longview Public Library
$20,000
Longview Public Library will purchase a one-year subscription to BrainFuse, an online tutoring service that will enable the library to continue to assist children even if they cannot visit the library to study. The Library also will acquire a book sanitizer that will reduce the days that returned books must be quarantined.
Rowlett Public Library
$4,415
The Rowlett Public Library seeks funding for Plexiglass barriers to safely reopen public computer stations, and Envisionware Central Management software to allow staff to remotely assist patrons using public computers.
Sammy Brown Library
$5,623
Sammy Brown Library will purchase a soundproof interactive booth so that patrons can privately access telehealth, conduct private business, attend Zoom meetings, pursue online learning, and pursue creative interests. Funds will also support the purchase of laptops that include audio and video capabilities so that patrons without internet access can access online resources.
Seguin Public Library
$24,480
The City of Seguin has high poverty levels and has seen recent rapid growth. When Covid-19 hit, access to the library became technology-focused and resources were strained. With 70% of community children receiving reduced or free lunches and the average income of $48,782, there is little household income to spend on internet and computers. This project, Bridging Seguin’s Digital Divide, will provide funding for 20 loanable hotspots and equipment to produce quality video programming for the community.
Sergeant Fernando de la Rosa Memorial Library
$23,137
The City of Alamo Sgt. Fernando De La Rosa Memorial Library serves as the community education hub and strives to update technology and services for its constituents. The goal of the Digital Lend project is to upgrade library technology so that patrons can check out mobile technology and provide patrons a COVID safe facility. This program will allow Alamo residents to check out mobile hot spots, provide mobile tablets for community use at library, will update library technology and develop a program brochure.
Smithville Public Library
$21,830
The Smithville Public Library (SPL) proposes “Connected Smithville: Resources and Services to Enhance Digital Inclusion,” designed to address COVID-related digital challenges. The library has partnered with the Smithville Area Chamber of Commerce, the Smithville Community Gardens, and Smithville Independent School District to create increased access to the internet and devices, and develop and co-host training programs that help local businesses become more resilient by enhancing their virtual business presence. Funds will be used to establish an annex with internet, onsite computer stations, a printer/scanner, devices for check-out for use at other Wi-Fi locations, enhanced electronic resources, as well as professional trainers for classes to conduct video classes.
South Texas College
$50,000
South Texas College proposes a program that will provide technology support to traditional students transitioning to online classes because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The program will focus on special populations such as individuals with disabilities, single parent, single pregnant woman, or displaced homemakers, and/or the economically disadvantaged. Students will receive internet access with unlimited data via mobile hotspots without incurring any cost.
Texas A&M Corpus Christi
$34,343
The Mary and Jeff Bell Library will purchase a laptop checkout kiosk. Readily accessible laptops, reserved for student use, will support digital inclusion by providing students who do not have laptops with devices that will enable them to navigate online classes. In addition, a laptop checkout kiosk will help facilitate circulation in the library while minimizing COVID-19 spread by reducing close contact interactions between staff and students.
Victoria Public Library
$24,985
Victoria Public Library will address community needs highlighted by the COVID pandemic: the digital divide, need for private workspace, and the need to connect with others, even if in a virtual environment. Funds will provide internet access outside of its walls to community members, create a private meeting space for individuals to take care of their school or work-related needs and remain socially distant, and bolster its virtual programming to deepen interaction between patrons and the library.