The DeKalb Public Library has received a $4,000 Weed and Feed for Education Grant to help circulate their nonfiction audio/video materials.

Pat McGuckin, manager of communications at the Illinois State Library, said the grant is called Weed and Feed because the libraries are weeding out their out-of-date material for new non-fiction items, which is why it’s common to see libraries use all the grant money for newer audio/video materials.

The grant offers $400 to $40,000 to libraries with multiple branches and those with the most need.

Dee Coover, adult services supervisor of the DeKalb Public Library, said the library received $4,000 last year for new history and biography media.

This year, the library, 309 Oak St., is concentrating on science, psychology, math and philosophy to add to their existing CD/DVD collection of 600.

The influx of non-fiction items will update library references and support such highly-valued customers as student teachers and home-school students, she said.

“Who else but the library will respond to their needs? Where else can they find a DVD on evolution to show their class,” Coover said.

With about 16,000 people walking in throughout a month, the DeKalb Public Library needs to supply its customers with larger and more up-to-date audio/video selections, which is why they applied for the grant.

Reference librarian Teresa Iversen said the library already has spent $2,000 and probably will end up with 30 more CDs and 30 more DVDs by the time all the money is spent.

The Weed and Feed grant also may not be the only financial boost the library gets this year.

Dee Coover, along with Communicative Disorders Professor Nancy Castle, are planning on applying for a grant to clean and restore the mural painted above the fireplace on the main floor of the library.

Coover said the restoration probably will cost about $10,000, but the library has been planning this for awhile.

Nancy Castle currently is teaching her students grant writing so the library will be prepared when the time comes to apply.