Remote Work Through Libraries Grant Information!

For any Chebeaguer who dreams of being able to work remotely on the island, we have
great news!
The Chebeague Island Library is thrilled to have just received a $100,000 grant to
specifically create a remote workspace. The generous funding is coming from the Maine
State Library’s Remote Work Through Libraries program, in partnership with the Maine
Department of Economic and Community Development and is funded by the American
Rescue Plan Act.
Our thanks go to the funders as well as to all of you who have supported this idea as a
community asset. Those who participated in the May survey showed what a new remote
workspace would mean to the island community. There were 161 people who responded
to our survey. Of those 75% expressed a need for some place to work and 66% said
they or someone they knew would use such a space in this new world of remote work.
And 85% of the comments were encouraging!
As one person put it:
“A workspace would be great for me. We have a busy house with very little space and
marginal service. I would definitely use a space that was more private, with a good
signal and table space for work papers. It would help me extend my working capacity on
the island.”
This will be a three-year project. We’ll begin with another assessment of community
needs, followed by a design and construction plan.
We know how important community input is, so we’ll start with three feedback sessions
in August.
Please join us and drop by with your suggestions:
Monday August 7th  from 6:30-8 pm
Wednesday August 9th  from 2-4 pm
Saturday, August 12th  from 10 am – noon
Refreshments will be served!
If you can’t make the meetings, we hope you’ll offer thoughts via emails, letters, and
phone calls. Let us know what would make this space work best for you. We plan to
conduct a more in-depth survey in the fall to round out the community needs
assessment phase.
For more information see https://www.maine.gov/msl/libs/admin/funding/ARPA.shtml