Mason City Public Library receives $5000 ARPA grant for e-books, e-audio books

MASON CITY — The Mason City Public Library has been awarded a $5000 grant from the State Library of Iowa from American Rescue Plan Act funds. That grant will go towards purchasing e-books and e-audio books for the library to respond to the pandemic.

Library director Mary Markwalter says the additional materials will help the library build its digital collections, which she says are a very important part of the library collections and demand for digital resources has greatly increased due to the pandemic.

The State Library of Iowa awarded public libraries in the state up to $5000 for a portion of its funding from the American Rescue Plan Act. The grant funds may be used for materials or technology to support digital inclusion efforts to enable libraries to reach residents, especially in support of education, health, and workforce development needs, or to respond to the pandemic and implement public health protocols.