Nunavut libraries get grant from Gates Foundation

IQALUIT — After fumbling a grant-offer last summer from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Nunavut government has now secured a $486,000 gift from the group.

The money will go to providing computers and Internet access in Nunavut’s public libraries, said Peter Kilabuk, the minister of Education.

Announcing the grant at the Nunavut assembly Wednesday, Kilabuk said the money will pay for the installation of 27 Internet-accessible computers at 11 public libraries in Nunavut.

Two laptop computers will also be provided, which will travel between communities for the purpose of training library patrons.

As well, library workers will get a week’s worth of free training in Seattle.

“This gift broadens opportunities for Nunavummiut in all parts of the territory to use the Internet and to have access to the new information they need and want,” said Kilabuk.

The windfall will be a boon to Nunavut’s underfunded libraries – but they almost missed the chance to get the money.

Last summer, when representatives from the foundation visited Nunavut to learn about the territory’s computing needs, they were warmly received but presented with no coherent proposals for how Nunavummiut might use the free money.

The encounter left the foundation representatives frustrated, and resulted in embarrassment for the territory after an article about the fumbled gift came out in the Globe and Mail.

Every year the foundation gives away $1.4 billion to improve people’s lives through better health and learning. The group was set up by Microsoft computer mogul Bill Gates, who is one of the richest men in the world.