The DeKalb Public Library received $4,000 for the second consecutive year through the Library Services and Technology Act grant this year.

The library received the maximum amount possible in the Weed and Feed category.

Under the Weed and Feed program, the library is weeding all the outdated, broken, abridged and misleading materials and updating the non-fiction collection of CDs and DVDs, said adult services librarian Dee Coover.

Coover applied for the grant along with reference librarian Teresa Iversen.

The money will be used for purchasing audio books on CDs and DVDs for math, science and philosophy, Coover said.

The library, through this grant, will try to meet the specific needs of its users.

“People want a review of algebra, so we’re getting a DVD on how to do algebra,” Coover said.

Last year, the library purchased more than 100 DVDs for language, history and biographies, Coover said.

“The DeKalb Public Library services the needs of teachers and teachers in training, and we’re trying to fulfill the needs of the DeKalb School District, home schoolers and Northern Illinois University,” Coover said.

Coover said she is hoping the grant continues for at least two more years.

The Library Services and Technology Act awards grants to libraries in three categories other than Weed and Feed.

“[The LSTA] is a competitive program,” said Pat McGuckin, manager of communications at the Illinois State Library. “Libraries submit a figure; we then allocate the money based on what the libraries are requesting.”

This year, a total of $4 million was awarded to libraries in Illinois in four categories: Weed and Feed, Libraries Leading the Way Through Partnerships, Digital Imaging Grant, and Creative Use of Libraries, McGuckin said.

The libraries will receive the money by Oct. 1 and the project must be carried out by June 30, 2006, he said.