The Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque has selected 13 libraries to receive $90,000 in grants, enabling them to launch initiatives that enhance their roles as hubs of community activity.
The grants, which range from $5,000 to $9,000, will support libraries in the seven counties the Community Foundation and its eight affiliates serve, including Clayton, Delaware, Dubuque, and Jones.
Here is a look at the library grant recipients and their projects:
- Anamosa Library and Learning Center: The library will use its grant to purchase a significant collection of Spanish and bilingual books and materials, giving parents and caregivers access to books that allow them to keep reading to children at a critical time for development. These materials also will provide opportunities for learning English as a second language, helping people overcome language barriers and be active community members who feel seen and welcome.
- Colesburg Public Library: The library will utilize and build on the online Library Chef resources to create a hands-on program that combines cooking, nutrition and wellness with meaningful community connection. The program will include in-person opportunities like adult-child cooking classes and presentations on nutrition and wellness. The grant also will allow the library to purchase an interactive whiteboard that can be used for all of its community programming.
- Dubuque County libraries: The Dubuque Area Library Information Consortium will use its grant to build on the success of Dubuque County Reads, a community reading initiative started in 2023 at 15 libraries. The 2027 theme is “arts and culture,” and the grant will help expand and strengthen rural programming by introducing artist talks and open art sessions at the James Kennedy Public Library in Cascade and Dubuque County Library District locations.
- Guttenberg Public Library: The library will expand its monthly Writers Open Mic and organize workshops for various types of writing, including creative, poetry and comic book. It also will create programs on card-making and journaling.
- Hopkinton Public Library: The Smithsonian Rural Institute’s Library to the Stars program will come to the Hopkinton library, making it just one of 16 libraries in the country to bring the national organization’s programming to rural residents. Library to the Stars is a six-month, all-ages community learning and engagement program centered around astronomy, curiosity and exploration. By attending programs and events, people can earn STARS – Steps Toward Adventure, Rewards and Smithsonian and potentially be entered in a drawing for an educational trip to Washington, D.C.
- James Kennedy Public Library (Dyersville): The library will create a new course called Adulting 101 for teens and young adults to learn important life skills. Local experts will provide hands-on training on topics like budgeting, child care, nutrition and meal preparation. Participants will leave with supplies to assist them with their success.
- Manchester Public Library: One of the library’s goals is to create opportunities for seniors to gather and learn together while supporting their well-being and reducing isolation. This is especially important since the closure of the local senior center and the loss of weekend Catholic Mass in surrounding communities. The library will create a Senior Social and Wellness Club, a weekly program that will include activities like chair yoga, games, special presentations and silent book clubs, as well as a free lunch.
- Strawberry Point Public Library: The library will launch Meet Me in the Park, a gathering that leverages the town’s participation in the Foundation’s Community Heart & Soul® initiative. Like that program, Meet Me in the Park will encourage people to take active roles in community development while also offering live music, food and games for attendees.
- Volga Public Library: The library will expand its current fitness, wellness and nutrition programs and also offer opportunities for residents to share input on new activities they would like to see in the community. In some cases, residents might have the chance to lead class and receive a small stipend.
photo courtesy of Janelle Tucker/KMCH