Kansas City Public Library Awarded More Than $850,000 in Emergency Connectivity Funds

(Kansas City, Mo.) - The Kansas City Public Library received $853,212 in the first wave of federal Emergency Connectivity funding, enabling the Library’s purchase and distribution of hundreds of laptops and Wi-Fi hotspots, furthering efforts to increase broadband internet access in the community.

The Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) is an initiative included in the American Rescue Plan approved by Congress in March. It is designed to help schools and libraries across the country provide critical online resources to students, staff, and library patrons – among other things, addressing needs for remote learning. The program “will make a major dent in closing one of the cruelest parts of the digital divide,” acting FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel says.

The FCC announced funding for 260 library systems and individual libraries across the country. The more than $850,000 award to the Kansas City Public Library is the fourth-largest and will be used to purchase 1,200 Chromebooks with built-in 4G LTE and 300 hotspots with unlimited data to supplement the Library’s current hotspot lending program. The Chromebooks and hotspots will be put into circulation and made available to Library cardholders and community partners that need devices for programming.

These additions to the Library’s resources will not only help keep up with the evolving needs created by remote work but also heighten the Library's reach and access to its digital resources. The new devices will also help expand services previously introduced in the last 18 months to address the technology gap being felt by students and adults studying and working remotely.