Prospect Library gets grant for high-speed fiber connection

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PROSPECT — The state’s Library Board awarded the Prospect Public Library $27,825 in grant funding for a high-speed fiber connection to the Connecticut Education Network.

The grant covers all costs related to installing the fiber connection to the library, a press release stated. It’s anticipated the connections will be completed later this year.

In 2015, the General Assembly appropriated $3.6 million for Grants-in-Aid for high-speed connections to the Connecticut Education Network. In 2016, the state Bond Commission approved an allocation and bond authorization to the State Library to fund high-speed internet connections for more than 90 libraries in the state.

The state also gives grants to libraries to upgrade their internet to fiber optics through the Connecticut Education Network, an organization that provides high-speed internet access at lower rates, the release stated.

In the release, state Library Board Chairman John Barry and state Librarian Kendall Wiggin wrote “Public Libraries serve as critical gateways to information outside of one’s own community, and in the Information Age this role has become even more important. Libraries give people without home computers free access to the internet, helping residents close the digital divide.

“As reliance upon public libraries to provide broadband telecommunications services for their community increases, it becomes essential to have universal high-speed connectivity in libraries across the state.”

“This is great news for the Prospect Library and for residents who utilize the services of the library,” Prospect Library Director John Wiehn said in the release. “It brings a more reliable and faster internet connection for those who use our Wi-Fi connection as well.”