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Rural Libraries and Community Economic Development

To address concerns surrounding the future of rural libraries, Western Illinois University along with the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs (IIRA) at WIU, Alliance Library System, and the Western Illinois Entrepreneurship Center (WIEC) are collaborating to find solutions for keeping these community institutions viable and productive. Technology offers rural libraries the chance to take the lead in assisting citizens; business leaders and public offices build their communities. An LSTA grant for $37,248 was awarded in November 2007 to "Building Rural Libraries and Communities" as a pilot program to create a sustainable virtual network of resource providers. The grant committee thanks the Illinois Secretary of State Jessie White and the Illinois State Library for their support of this unique partnership. Ten selected libraries will participate in the pilot program, which will focus on entrepreneurship as one aspect of economic development. The virtual network of materials and resources continues to be developed and is made available to other libraries via this web portal.

Grant Committee Members:

Phyllis Self P-Self@wiu.edu (309) 298-2762
Kitty Pope kpope@alliancelibrarysystem.com (309) 694-9200 x 2101
Krista A. Bowers Sharpe KA-Bowers-Sharpe@wiu.edu
Rose Chenoweth rchenoweth@alliancelibrarysystem.com (309) 694-9200 x2110
Felix T. Chu F-Chu@wiu.edu
Timothy Collins T-Collins@wiu.edu
John J. Gruidl JJ-Gruidl@wiu.edu
Christopher D. Merrett CD-Merrett@wiu.edu
Sarah E. Shike SE-Broughton@wiu.edu
Jeanne D. Stierman JD-Stierman@wiu.edu
William A. Thompson WA-Thompson@wiu.edu

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Funding for this grant was awarded by the Illinois State Library (ISL), a Division of the Office of Secretary of State, using funds provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), under the federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA).