Politics & Government
Tuscaloosa County Approves $200K For New Book Vending Machines
The County Commission has approved $200,000 for the Tuscaloosa Public Library to buy three new book vending machines.
TUSCALOOSA, AL — The Tuscaloosa County Commission on Wednesday unanimously approved allocating $200,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding for the Tuscaloosa Public Library to purchase new book vending machines.
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The measure was presented by District 3 Commissioner Mark Nelson, who told Patch the delivery of library services is different than it has been in the past and the purchase of these three new book vending machines will provide another tool to reach the members of the community.
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The three machines are priced at $54,000 each, with the remainder of the allocated funds set aside to use for inventory for the machines.
As Patch previously reported, the latest book vending machine debuted in August inside Northport City Hall as a way to address the library's limited budget, along with pandemic changes and past low participation resulting in Northport not having its own branch of the TPL System.
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Nelson's district, which covers a wide part of southern Tuscaloosa County, is faced with similar issues that he hopes can be addressed with the new vending machines.
"As we are facing the probable closing of the Brown Branch of the public library located at the Miller Center, this will give an alternate avenue of library access for the citizens in my district and in other areas of the county, as well," he said. "The Commission has continued to support our local library with an annual appropriation, as well as significant funds to repair our main library branch. This is just another way to support our library and its goal to make reading material accessible for all as we acknowledge that reading is one of the main cornerstones of education and personal growth."
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