Ritzville library expands collection through state grant

The Ritzville Public Library is one of seven libraries in Adams and Lincoln counties that will soon have extra materials on their shelves through a grant administered by the Washington State Library.

The Connecting Libraries through Resource Sharing grant program has provided $5,000 for the seven public libraries.

Ritzville is the lead library receiving the grant, and the Odessa, Davenport, Harrington, Hesseltine (Wilbur), Reardan and Sprague public libraries are partners.

The grant will be awarded equally among the seven libraries, with $500 per library for collection development, up to $140 for travel to attend required meetings and up to $75 for processing materials.

“I’m excited that this $500 for collection development is allowing us to purchase items that we generally wouldn’t otherwise, such as popular DVD titles and graphic novels for our teens and adults,” said Ritzville Public Library Director Kylie Fullmer. “This is great news for our patrons.”

Carolyn Petersen, the state library’s assistant program manager for library development, said the purpose of the grant cycle is to encourage sharing among public libraries in counties where inter-local agreements to share materials haven’t existed by providing grant funds for collection development.

“We at the state library are very pleased to give the CLRS grants to help these libraries grow their collections and improve service to their patrons,” Petersen said. “The plan is for these new collection materials to rotate between the seven partnering libraries so patrons at each library can have access to them.”

The CLRS grant funds are awarded to public libraries within counties or areas that do not currently provide countywide library service and do not have formal inter-local agreements in place.

Funds for the CLRS grant program come from the federal government through the Libraries Services and Technology Act.

The Washington State Library is a division of the Office of Secretary of State.

For more information, contact Petersen at (360) 570-5560 or [email protected], or Fullmer at 659-1222 or [email protected].