Kevin C. Merchant, president of the Jewett City Savings Bank Foundation, announced today that the Foundation has awarded a total of $5,300 to four area libraries in its most recent round of funding.

The Foundation awarded $1,100 to the Aldrich Free Public Library in Moosup in support of Babygarten, a new educational curriculum designed to engage infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers in early literacy skills.

Three other libraries will use their grants from the Foundation to improve outdated technology. The Preston Public Library’s $1,200 award will be used to provide patrons with a dedicated computer and access to the LearningExpress Library, an Internet-based learning center.

At Jewett City’s Slater Library, the Foundation’s $1,000 gift  will help replace an outdated and failing library management computer system with an Internet-accessible, web-based system.  The Slater Library also received $1,000 in response to it’s annual appeal campaign.

The Voluntown Public Library will use its $1,000 Foundation grant to replace an outdated circulation/cataloging computer system with an Internet-accessible digital system.

The libraries were among 18 area non-profit organizations who received a combined total of $25,350 in grants from the Jewett City Savings Bank Foundation this fall.

The Foundation, established in 2003 to reinforce, encourage, and support the Bank’s ongoing commitment to the well being of the communities it serves, has awarded over $225,000 since its founding.