Iowa Libraries Breaking-Ground - Other States Watching

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Funding Experiment

Library books from around the globe will soon be available from the comfort of your couch.

Iowan public library frequenters will never need to leave home again thanks to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is now funding a project called, putting libraries on the web. (PLOW)

The State library in Des Moines will handle servers so as that they will connect with all libraries. They will provide software so as that all libraries will have a professional looking site. 

This service will revolutionize the whole public library browsing experience, by giving it the comforts of home.

"There will be a web site so as that the public can look and see what is available, then they can just contact the library and they will make an order for them," said Jill Sanders, director of Elkader Public Library.

The public may never need to leave home again because many areas offer some type of delivery service, such as Books on Wheels.

"If they live within the city limits we can deliver," she said. There are other states that are watching this because this is ground-breaking," she added, pointing out how Iowa is leading the way.

In recent years the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donated computers to every library across the United States. Iowa was one of the last States to receive the computers and thus it was noticed by Sanders that Iowa has a lot of libraries in comparison to other States. Iowa has 550 libraries and out of those 550, it was expected that only 100 would be getting computers; but 300 were fitted with computers and they also received training paid for by the Foundation, according to Sanders.

"It just goes to show how much it was needed," she explained.

There are nine libraries in Clayton County and Elkader is the largest.

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