Simsbury Library Eyes Cash To Build Podcast/Webcast Room

SIMSBURY, CT — The town's library may soon have a place for the public to record podcasts and do webcasting, providing anyone with a professional quality area to record audio programs or make Youtube videos.

The Simsbury Board of Selectmen Feb. 15 unanimously voted to authorize Simsbury Town Manager Maria Capriola to execute all paperwork and actions should the town get the money to do that via a state grant.

Funding would come from the state Public Utility Reglatory Authority's (PURA) Public, Educational and Governmental Programming and Educational Technology Investment Account (PEGPETIA) Grant Program.

Capriola said the Simsbury Public Library, located at 725 Hopmeadow St., Simsbury, applied for a grant and, if awarded, it would cover a sound-proof unit for podcasting and webcasting.

The library is hoping for $26,864 to purchase a smart meeting room pod, webcasting and podcasting equipment.

"I think this is a really neat opportunity," Capriola said at the Feb. 15 selectmen meeting.

The area would also include a web camera, video conferencing screen, ring light and microphones, essentially everything needed to do podcasts or web videos.

According to town officials, the room would be reserved by members of the public in the same way library study and conference rooms are reserved.

No town funds are required to match the grand, wrote Capriola to selectmen, and there are no added costs to the town outside of the time and effort to seek and execute the grant funds.

Simsbury First Selectman Wendy Mackstutis said such a feature at the library represents another high-tech application within modern library services.

"It's an up-and-coming thing," Mackstutis said.

For the minutes of the Feb. 15 Simsbury Board of Selectmen meeting, click on this link.

For more information on the state PEGPETIA Grant Program, click on this link.

For more information on the proposal, click on this link and scroll down to Page 24.