Staff report, San Angelo Standard-Times Published 3:21 p.m. CT Aug. 10, 2020 | Updated 11:58 a.m. CT Aug. 11, 2020

Casey Dees works with a 3D printer at the Stephens Central location of the San Angelo Public Library system to produce supplies during the covid19 pandemic Thursday, June 11, 2020.(Photo: Colin Murphey / San Angelo Standard-Times)

SAN ANGELO Tom Green County Library will receive a $50,000 federal grant to respond to the coronavirus pandemic, U.S. Senator John Cornyn announced Monday, Aug. 10, 2020.

The grant is a part of the $2.6 million Texas received from the Institute for Museum and Library Services as part of the CARES Act, which Cornyn supported in March.

These funds will help allow Texans to safely utilize local library services and resources, Cornyn said. I applaud area leaders in San Angelo for their work to obtain these grants and for putting the safety of Texans first as we continue to persevere through the COVID-19 pandemic.

More: San Angelo 3D printers produce PPE supplies to help during coronavirus pandemic

Tom Green County Library will use grant funds to install permanent hot spots throughout the community, with a particular emphasis on rural, outlying communities.

The library will work with San Angelo ISD and the county's rural school districts to identify areas where students who receive free and reduced school lunch services reside, targeting those areas for public, communal hot spots.

Placing hot spot stations throughout the community will get Internet services closer to where people live and work, allowing them to complete online tasks without the need to come to, or in, the library's four walls.

Grant funds will also support expansion of the librarys popular hot spot lending program, the purchase of PPE, and 3D supplies to develop protective gear in-house.

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Tom Green County Library to receive $50k grant to create wifi hot spots - Standard-Times