New funding means new opportunities for Brock Libraries

DARRYL KNIGHT The Standard

BROCK: A recent Ontario Trillium Fund (OTF) grant has allowed the Brock Township library to be able to make several upgrades to technology and enhanced programming options.

The $51,900 grant was awarded through the Resilient Communities Fund, and with the additional funding, the library has made significant upgrades to internet hardware, meeting and programming equipment, and internet hot spots at the library, to give local residents more options closer to home.

The new tech upgrades will bring significant improvement in connectivity with local residents and more programming options. With their new meeting technology, the library is now able to offer hybrid author visits, allowing local residents to attend events online as well as in person. Local residents will now have improved access to reliable internet services, at all three branches in Beaverton, Cannington and Sunderland. Now, library users can borrow internet hot spots from their library to access reliable internet services in the community.

Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MPP, Laurie Scott, was on hand, at a recent library event, to celebrate the new opportunities afforded by the increased funding, and noted, the significant role libraries play in connecting the community.

“Libraries are integral in providing spaces for people to learn, grow and develop,” said MPP Scott. “The funds have helped the Brock Township Public Library make significant technological upgrades, to help even more people access all their fantastic programs and resources.”

Additionally, the grant has given the library the opportunity to develop and implement hybrid programming options, offer new tech programs and increase its outreach efforts across the township, to promote equity and inclusivity.

“This grant is not only improving the quality of the internet at the library, but it is improving accessibility and inclusivity at the library and in our community,” said Katie-Scarlett MacGillivray, CEO of Brock Township Public Library. “If you were not able to make it to the program tonight in person, we now have the ability to offer programs to people online and in person, simultaneously. As well, patrons can book a meeting room and use the Meeting Owl, to hold their own hybrid meetings in the library. This is a very empowering grant, as it fosters community connection.”

For inquires about booking a meeting room, borrowing a hotspot, attending a program, or checking out a book, please contact one of its branches: Beaverton, at 705-426-9283; Cannington, at 705-432-2867; and Sunderland, at 705-357-3109, or visit the library website, at www.brocklibraries.ca.