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CCCF awards grants to MSWB, library
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · May 14, 2015
Main Street West Branch and West Branch Public Library each received money from Cedar County Community Foundation’s spring grant awards.
MSWB received $1,000 for its Project Site and Sound application, and WBPL received nearly $940 for children’s books.
Mackenzie Krob, program director for MSWB, said the group will purchase a portable sound system, four microphones, a projector for indoor and outdoor use and a projector screen. The group plans to use them at concerts and presentations, and to loan it out to other groups.
“We’re excited,” she said of the group, which is coming up on its 10-year anniversary. “There have been a few times when we’ve really needed it.”
Before, the group would spend between $300 to $500 to rent the sound system, or needed to borrow a projector.
The WBPL and other libraries in Cedar County pool their requests into one application and for a singular purpose. This year, the group decided to purchase children’s books and collectively received $7,500 from the Foundation.
Library Director Nick Shimmin said the Foundation has told the group that they like their applications because they know the money will spread throughout the county.
“They can hit all the communities at once,” Shimmin said.
Eight libraries split the money evenly, and West Branch received $937.50.
The libraries’ requests have been awarded nearly every year Shimmin has been director since he arrived more than seven years ago, he said.
Shimmin said the library plans to figure out the final details for the summer reading project before placing the order, likely at the end of May or early June.
He noted that for Tipton and West Branch, the No. 1 and No. 2 largest city libraries in the county, the money may not seem like much, but for smaller libraries like Mechanicsville and Stanwood, “this is huge for them.”
Krob said MSWB plans to purchase the sound system and projection equipment in time for Music on the Village Green, which features weekly concerts. The group also sees times when all the equipment could be used at once, like the annual dessert auction, to turn it into a multi-media event.
The Cedar County Community Foundation received 53 applications this year worth $212,000. The Foundation on April 30 awarded $95,850 to 32 groups.
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