Johnson County Library Receives $2.6 Million Grant

The Johnson County Library has been awarded just over $2.6 million in grant funding from the Wyoming State Library for improvements to the Kaycee Branch Library.

Library Board Chair Jennifer Bakken spoke to the county commission at their last meeting to discuss the grant award and the possibility of not needing the funding that is on the sixth-penny ballot initiative for the November General Election.

Commission Chair Bill Novotny and County Attorney Tucker Ruby discussed how the county can inform the public they no longer need to vote on the funding for the library, but still need to decide on the other propositions on the ballot.

The county and the library will continue to look into what can be done to get the information out to the public before and during the election on the library’s request on the sixth-penny initiative.

According to a release, the grant funding stems from the Wyoming Library Multi-Purpose Community Facility Program (WLMCF), a federal sub-grant program funded by the Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund. The program awarded $12.6 million earlier this year to Wyoming library construction projects, bringing the grant program’s grand total to just over $21 million.

Earlier this summer, additional money became available, and the WSL accepted a second round of applications from Wyoming libraries. Seven libraries received funding for new projects, including Johnson County Libraries, that received the largest award of $2,652,300 to improve the Kaycee Branch Library.