Baltimore using $11.7 million in federal money to upgrade libraries, Mayor Brandon Scott says

The City of Baltimore is diverting $11.7 million in federal coronavirus pandemic relief funding to library infrastructure as part of Mayor Brandon Scott’s broader push to expand free internet access across the city. The money, part of a $35 million chunk of American Rescue Plan Act funds set aside in November 2021 for investment in broadband and digital equity, will pay for renovations, staff, HVAC systems and part of construction costs of a new library branch in Park Heights. At a news conference at the Brooklyn branch Tuesday, Enoch Pratt Free Library CEO Heidi Daniel laid out plans to replace rows of desktop computers with more private booths and rooms.