“Florida’s libraries are continually adapting to provide innovative services in response to local community needs. During natural disasters, libraries provide assistance before, during and after the event. Libraries distribute disaster preparedness information, function as comfort stations, staff emergency operations centers, provide Internet and Wi-Fi access, manage evacuation shelters including providing general comfort, children’s programming, and pop-up libraries. Our libraries also play an important role in Florida elections, serving as voter registration agencies, early voting sites, and Election Day polling locations." 
-- Amy Johnson, Director, Division of Library and Information Services

Polk CARES for our Community  
Using CARES Act stimulus funds, the project took a four-pronged approach to providing services identified by the community as essential as they dealt with COVID-19. The Polk County Library Cooperative (PCLC) implemented contactless, wireless printing that enabled community members to send print jobs to the library, pay for them, and then pick them up. PCLC offered internet access outside the library, through Wi-Fi access points in parking lots as well as hotspots for use at home. They added contactless access to library materials using lockers and self-checkout machines. Finally, PCLC provided increased e-resources by expanding an existing subscription service. 
IMLS Funds: $105,987 

Miami-Dade Public Library System Adult Learning Academy 
The Miami-Dade Public Library System implemented the Adult Learning Academy to promote basic adult education, English language learning, technology education, and language instruction. The program launched virtually during the pandemic to reach users at their point of need. Initially, services were concentrated at five regional libraries geographically located in the northern, southern, eastern, western, and central regions of the county. Classes ran for three semesters and met Monday through Thursday evenings. Instructors utilized curriculum resources with a proven record of success for adult learners, integrating digital literacy instruction into each 90-minute block. The program was well received, with more registrants than initially expected, and staff anticipated offering future iterations of the program in a hybrid format.
IMLS Funds: $190,083 

Florida Memory Program
The Florida Division of Library and Information Services’ Florida Memory program provided free online access to significant photographs, films, sound recordings and textual records from the collections of the State Library and Archives of Florida, allowing educators, students and researchers to utilize these collections without physically traveling to the facility. This grant period, the program added 50 new films, which doubled its goal, as well as 636 new textual records and 2,109 new photographs to its website. Staff also conducted 41 outreach events. The program recruited a team of digital volunteers who contributed 88,753 lines of index data to enhance the accessibility of textual records on the site. Staff also created and launched a new women’s history exhibit and a new method for presenting textual records from Florida’s governors.
IMLS Funds: $518,113.77