FOLEY — During Jan. 4’s Foley City Council meeting, the Foley Public Library received a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) Grant valued at $6,000.

“We originally applied for this grant in April 2015,” said John Jackson, director of the Foley Public Library, “with the process not running its course until the fall, when awards were announced, and then followed up with official letters stating what each recipient would receive.”

The library has until June 30 of this year to spend the $6,000 plus a 25 percent match amount.

“All of this is reimbursed, so we will send in copies of receipts for materials then receive a check in turn for that specific amount,” Jackson said.

The library staff will be looking at purchasing a number of books and DVDs that would support a homeschool curriculum of math, English, science and history.

“To make sure we are on the right track, we will discuss needs the homeschool family brings to us and purchase what we think will work to meet those needs,” Jackson explains.

Regardless of items purchased, Jackson says these will be available to all patrons. The library offers similar items to what they intend to purchase, but they plan to expand the range with this grant.

“For example, we do not purchase textbooks, but we do purchase titles that explore all areas of world history which can be used as a teaching tool in support of text,” he said.

Jackson also explains the library will be applying for the next cycle of grants in April.

“We plan to ask for funding to expand all areas of our nonfiction section,” said Jackson. “This will include books and DVDs that will expand out collections from computer and electronic ‘know-how’ to biographies and everything in between. Our goal with this grant, as with any other, is to provide our patrons with the most extensive and up-to-date collection of materials we possibly can.”