Kane County libraries make late plea for COVID-19 relief funds

Editor's note: This story has been updated to change the date to apply for funding to Sept. 15 and deleted a sentence about when the county board would vote on the funding.

Public libraries in Kane County may see up to $250,000 in federal COVID-19 relief funds dog-eared for them to address costs incurred to open to the public. But library administrators will have to act fast to access the funds.

Leaders from two of Kane County's largest public libraries made a late plea to a county board committee overseeing $93 million in federal CARES Act funds to be considered as possible grant recipients Monday. The request came as the county had already set aside pools of the funds for many other not-for-profits and units of government.

Lauren Rosenthal, executive director of the Fox River Valley Public Library District, told the committee local libraries are serving as a gateway to the internet that's causing cars to pile up in the parking lots to get free Wi-Fi access. The people in those cars are the 11.3% of Illinois residents on unemployment and the thousands of local students trying to navigate remote learning programs.

"Can you imagine trying to apply for a job without internet access?" Rosenthal asked. "How about applying for unemployment benefits? How can students attend class without internet access?

Rosenthal's library district serves 77,000 residents on the northeast end of the county, including Carpentersville and part of Elgin. The main portion of Elgin, and some 144,000 residents, is served by the Gail Borden Public Library. CEO Carole Medal said the Gail Borden library racked up $88,000 in expenses preparing its three buildings and a bookmobile to safely reopen. That includes personal protective equipment for the staff and Plexiglass screens for computer work stations.

Medal said she's seeing the same increased demand for internet access as the county's other 11 public libraries are experiencing.

"If you could see the reaction of our public right now, you'd know we are essential workers," she said.

But with most of the $93 million the county received already spoken for, the committee fretted over adding another request so late in the process.

"The challenge in doing these grants is it's not a decision as to the importance or the necessity of the districts that are being served," committee chairman John Hoscheit said. "It's always difficult to say there's no money for a worthy organization."

Instead of saying "no," the committee committed to a solid maybe. It agreed to set aside $250,000 from the contingency pool carved out of the federal funds. But it kept in place a Sept. 15 deadline to apply for the funds.

If the full county board doesn't agree to the plan, libraries that submit funding requests will not receive any money.