The Appleton Public Library has received two grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for a combined total of $52,015. The first grant, for $16,945, is for the purchase of four computers and a content server that will allow the library to expand the number of Internet computer workstations available for public access. The second grant, for $35,070, will enable the library to set up a public access computer lab, including ten computers, an instructor's computer, a projection unit and additional equipment.

233 libraries in Wisconsin will receive grants totaling $3.1 million from the Gates Foundation. The grants are intended to increase public access to computers and the Internet and narrow the "digital divide" in Wisconsin and were available to libraries serving low-income and rural populations. To be eligible for the Gates Foundation's U.S. Library Program grants, a library building must serve a population that has a poverty rate of 10 percent or more.

In announcing the grants, State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster said: "These grants will make a difference for all Wisconsin citizens, especially those who depend on their libraries for access to computers and digital resources including the Internet."

Appleton is one of seven libraries in Wisconsin to receive a grant for a computer lab. Assistant Library Director Barbara Kelly noted that the lab would be set up with additional assistance from the Appleton Library Foundation. "Staff is pleased and excited by the possibilities of the additional equipment," Kelly stated. "We appreciate the support from the Library Foundation and look forward to having increased opportunities to provide public Internet access. We will seek ways to make the lab available to community groups."

The lab is intended to provide a facility for training the public, library staff, and librarians from the surrounding area in using the Internet and microcomputer applications. It will be used by staff from the Appleton Public Library, Outagamie Waupaca Library System, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and Gates Foundation for training purposes. The lab computers will also be available for public access to the Internet, and for other purposes such as word processing, database access, the library catalog and databases. Each computer will be loaded with a full complement of productivity software, including a web browser, word processing and office productivity software, encyclopedias, children's learning software and more.

Library staff attended regional workshops in November to prepare for the arrival of the equipment. In December Kelly will attend a weeklong training seminar in Seattle hosted by the Gates Foundation, along with Kurt Riechers, Technology Coordinator, and Gerri Moeller, Outagamie Waupaca Library System Electronic Resources Librarian,.

The lab equipment is expected to arrive near the end of the year, and to be set up in January for use by the Gates Foundation in training staff from other area libraries receiving the grants. Timelines are not fully set at this time, but it is hoped that the lab will be available to the public by spring of 2003