Residents can check out these devices for free for more than a year. The due dates will be Sept. 30, 2023.
Money for the library's total 17,500-device program comes from the federal Emergency Connectivity Fund. Through an earlier allocation by the fund, the library had already bought and loaned 4,000 Chromebooks and 4,000 hotpots. Because of the new funding, due dates for those devices has also been extended until Sept. 30, 2023.
"Digital access is a necessity in today's world," Waller McGuire, CEO of the library, said in a statement. "We continue to provide the traditional services that many of us remember from our youth, but libraries also are major technology providers and strive to overcome barriers to online access. We are grateful to the federal government for supporting the important role libraries play in digital connectivity. I would also like to thank the SLPL staff for taking on this major project in addition to their regular work and helping it succeed: every cent of this money went to equipment placed in public hands."
To check out a device, an individual must:
— Be a resident of St. Louis city
— Visit one of the 16 library locations
— Have a St. Louis Public Library card or sign up for one
© 2022 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
