Electric vehicle will serve as a mobile
Akron-Summit County Public Library
starting in spring
AKRON,
Ohio, March 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- FirstEnergy
Corp. (NYSE: FE) has donated nearly $46,000 to the Akron-Summit County Public Library (ASCPL) to
fund a customized electric vehicle that will function as a pop-up
library in the greater Akron area
beginning this spring.
The three-wheeled vehicle, called an eTuk, will serve as a
mobile library for residents, especially children, who may not have
easy access to the library's main branches. It will travel to local
schools, parks and community events to provide educational
resources, reading materials and other library services to those
who need it most.
"This pop-up library will allow us to reach more people and
expand our outreach efforts in an innovative and fresh way," said
Pam Hickson-Stevenson, executive
director of the ASCPL. "We appreciate FirstEnergy's commitment to
our community by supporting this initiative to expand access to
literacy services for people of all ages."
Visitors to the mobile library will be able to browse or check
out a selection of books and materials, sign up for a library card
and learn more about library resources and services from staff. The
books will range from children's picture books to young adult
novels and popular fiction and nonfiction for adults. Patrons can
pick out a book using their library card, and the library staff
will scan it using a tablet.
"We are proud to support the ASCPL and its efforts to bring its
services directly to the community through the creation of a pop-up
library," said Lorna Wisham,
FirstEnergy's vice president of corporate affairs and community
involvement. "This donation aligns with our mission to empower
communities and help advance their educational and cultural
initiatives, while also reducing our carbon footprint locally with
the use of an electric vehicle."
FirstEnergy has long supported the ASCPL and other local
literacy programs. With a $50,000
grant from the FirstEnergy Foundation at the peak of coronavirus
pandemic, the Progressive Alliance Community Development
Corporation teamed up with the ASCPL to launch a program that
lends internet hotspots and smart-spots to residents
across greater Akron. The program
helped bridge the digital divide for children learning through
online classrooms and employees working at home during the
pandemic. Additionally, FirstEnergy recently leveraged its sports
sponsorship with the Cleveland Cavaliers to host free Scholastic
Book Fairs for more than 500 children in Akron Public Schools this winter.
The ASCPL serves more than 377,000 residents in Summit County and is committed to providing
access to a wide range of educational and cultural resources. For
more information on the ASCPL and its programs, visit
www.akronlibrary.org.
FirstEnergy is dedicated to integrity, safety, reliability and
operational excellence. Its 10 electric distribution companies form
one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems,
serving customers in Ohio,
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West
Virginia, Maryland and
New York. The company's
transmission subsidiaries operate approximately 24,000 miles of
transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic
regions. Follow FirstEnergy online
at www.firstenergycorp.com and on
Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp.
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SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.