GRANT HELPS LIBRARY PURCHASE COMPUTER

The Cape Girardeau Public Library will receive a $2,402 grant from the Missouri State Library for the purchase of a computer and printer for its youth services department, library director Betty Martin said.

Half of the grant should arrive next month, Martin said, and the computer will be purchased shortly thereafter.

The new IBM-compatible computer will replace an outdated machine in the youth services department that couldn't run new educational software. Also, the old computer had no printer.

Martin said students will use the new computer to type reports and perform other word-processing tasks, among other things. She said an Internet connection might be added.

Fifty basic equipment grants to 41 public libraries in Missouri totaled $331,826. The money was provided by the federal Library Services and Technology Act.