DUCKTOWN, Tenn. – The East Polk Library in Ducktown is receiving $11,311 as part of a combined federal and state initiative to provide Internet access and computer job training to Tennessee’s rural county libraries.
The Secretary of State, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development pooled resources last summer to provide $1.2 million to 76 libraries in 60 counties.
“When people have trouble getting Internet connections or cannot afford a home computer, our public library fills a void,” state Rep. Eric Watson, R-Cleveland, said in a news release.
The money will go toward buying and installing six or seven laptop computers and up to 60 hours of computer skills training, said Arthur Bigham, vice chairman of the county’s library board.
The East Polk Library will be part of the first wave of Tennessee libraries to receive computers and peripherals, said library board Chairman Roger Mayer.