Council accepts roughly $280,000 gift from Pretty Foundation and approves library technology contract

The City of Wichita Falls accepted an approximately $280,000 grant from the Pretty Foundation and approved a contract to purchase technology upgrades for the city library, City Manager Darren Leiker said during a May 7 city council wrap.

Leiker described the foundation as a major philanthropic organization in the community and said the donation and contract approval came after several months of coordination to identify library needs.

"We awarded we did 2 action items. 1 was to accept, just about $280,000 grant from the Pretty Foundation. And the second agenda item was to award a contract for some technology improvements at the library," Leiker said.

Leiker called the arrangement "a classic example of a public private partnership" that helps the city meet library needs it could not fund solely from municipal resources.

The city said the funding will be used to purchase technology aimed at improving library user experience. The wrap did not specify the vendor name, the exact contract dollar amount, the motion mover or second, or the vote tally at council; those details were not included in the recorded remarks.

City staff said they look forward to purchasing the technology and implementing the upgrades at the library.