Friends of Appleton Library wins $20,262 Public Service Commission nonprofit access grant for technology and workforce programming

The Friends of Appleton Library received a $20,262 nonprofit access grant from the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin to expand technology access and workforce support at the Appleton Public Library, a staff member told the trustees.

The two‑year project totals $36,800, with in‑kind staff time making up a large portion of the local match, the presentation said. The grant will fund laptops and desktops to be deployed throughout the library and in the US Venture co‑working space, plus planning and training for digital literacy and job‑search programming.

The project builds on earlier funding and lessons learned, including a prior PSC grant that supported circulating laptops in 2020–21 and a Microsoft TechSpark grant that helped create an innovation library assistant position, the staff presenter said. This current grant emphasizes in‑house access rather than circulating devices because of prior security and loss concerns.

The Friends will be the fiscal agent and primary recipient; the board was informed of the grant as an informational item rather than an action item. Staff said the project will track community card and computer‑use only card activity to measure access for patrons without traditional permanent addresses.

Trustees asked no substantive questions during the briefing and received the report for information.