The Friends of the Bay County Public Libraries greatly appreciates grants to help support our local libraries. A huge shoutout to NWRLS Library Director, Robin Shader, for making this grant happen from the beginning of the grant process to facilitating the grant results.

The Friends received a NextEra Energy grant for $17,900 to purchase a total of five AWE Learning Computers for all three Bay County library locations in December of 2024. They were installed into the library in May 2025. The computers are perfect for preschool age children with 90 pre-loaded educational games geared for building early literacy skills. The computers replaced older Early Literacy Computers that were starting to fail.

The 3 Bay County libraries provided survey cards to see if the grant objectives were met, and the new AWE Learning Computers exceded expectations!

Objective 1: Increase average number of early literacy skills games and activities accessed by 15%. (So, an average of 759 per month.) 

The updated computers are fantastic and usage has increased. Usage of all five computers combined had an average of 3,160 uses per month.  When we only consider uses that were five minutes or longer, there are still an average of 918 per month.

Objective 2: Eighty-five percent of parents surveyed will indicate that their child/children improved their early literacy skills as a result of using Early Literacy Station computers. 

Sixty-one completed surveys by parents were received. About 95% of respondents indicated at least two skills had improved after their child used these computers. About 60% of respondents indicated they saw improvement in all areas surveyed.

Skills with greatest improvement were:
• Recognizing basic shapes.
• Understanding the importance of cooperating and taking turns. 

AWE Learning Computer Images from Left to Right:
Bay County Public Library, Panama City Beach Public Library, and Parker Public Library.

Parental Feedback Highlights:

“My child has started sounding out letters and spelling. She is getting ready to start Pre-K in the fall, so we are excited to continue using these programs!”

“We love coming here for the computers, as we don’t have tablets. The touch screens are excellent for my kids to navigate the programs on their own and have been a game changer for us!”

“So glad we’ve got touch screens now – much easier for independent use for my little ones.”

“We have used these computers multiple times over the year. The kids have learned motor skills with the mouse and problem solving with the puzzle. (Ages 8, 6, 4)”

“First time user but greatly appreciate the opportunity for a safe computer learning setting for my 5 year old. Thanks so much!”