The Minnesota Department of Education announced Monday the Albert Lea Public Library was awarded a large grant to add mobile hotspots and iPad tablets.

The library was awarded a $72,504 Library Services and Technology grant for its Check Out the Internet@ALPL project. This will bring an additional 60 mobile hotspots and 25 mobile iPad tablets to its collection for 12 months.

The devices will be available starting Sept. 7. Balloons, treats and device demonstrations provided by Friends of the Albert Lea Public Library are planned for that day at the library.

According to a press release, the library will offer a Wi-Fi hotspot and mobile tablet lending program to Albert Lea Public Library patrons who are Freeborn County residents. Patrons will be able to borrow Wi-Fi hotspots or mobile tablets for up to three weeks. Users will be able to connect the Wi-Fi hotspot to personal devices or to a borrowed mobile iPad tablet from the library.

The project will “provide patrons with equal access to technology and tools they need to connect to not only their community, but to the world,” the release stated.

“On any given day you can find individuals in the library’s parking lot after closing hours on their laptops and tablets so they can use the library’s Wi-Fi,” Albert Lea Public Library Director Peggy Havener said. “Now we can let them check it out and take it home.”

The application for the grant was submitted in May. Havener said she attributes the awarding of the grant to the library’s status as the only public library in Freeborn County, along with the county’s large rural population and work the library has been doing in the community.

The library will offer free computer classes this fall, including digital literacy and basic computer classes, as well as introductory classes on how to use hotspots and tablets. Registration is required.

More than one-third of K-12 students from low-income and rural households are unable to access the internet at home for homework and education, the release stated.

“Access is also important for jobs, banking, bill paying, continuing education and staying connected to distant friends and family,” the release stated. “Internet access is no longer a luxury; it is an essential service.”

The Check Out the Internet@ALPL project was made possible in part by funding from the Minnesota Department of Education through a Library Services and Technology Act grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

An earlier plan by library staff to distribute mobile hotspots and tablets was discontinued because the new grant provides more hotspots and tablets, Havener said.