Maria Canton
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Jun 26/00) - When representatives from a multi-million dollar foundation asked Louise Frechette to go to Seattle, Washington, she suggested they come to Nunavut.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation approached the Government of Nunavut's manager of library policy for the department of education in an attempt to help the territory develop virtual libraries in the communities.

The donation would include cash grants to purchase new computers and provide training, as well as a donation of software.

Nunavut is the last territory to receive funding from the foundation -- the NWT recently accepted a $323,000 gift from them.

All 10 provinces have also taken advantage of the cash grants and free Microsoft Canada software.

In order to access a piece of the Microsoft fortune, however, Nunavut will have to comply with criteria that were determined when the representatives toured four community libraries.

"I invited them here so they could see the reality of Nunavut libraries," said Frechette from her office in Baker Lake.

"We are, and they are, very happy about the visit. It opened up communication between the government and the foundation. However, they do require us to do things before donating is viable for them."

Prerequisites for funding include the GN ensuring each of the 11 community libraries is equipped with reliable Internet connections of reasonable speed, and that the donated computers can be replaced within three to five years.

The donation would merely be a "catalyst" grant, says Carol Erikson, the international library programs manager for the foundation.

"It is to help the territory move from one level of library services to a much higher level," she explained while on the tour two weeks ago.

"Sustainability of the program is crucial, that is what we are most concerned about."

Erickson couldn't estimate how much money would be donated should the government make library upgrades a priority, but she said the smallest grant given in Canada was $250,000 to Prince Edward Island.

"We understand that the government has a lot of competing priorities right now, but we are willing to consider special circumstances," she said.

"I was extremely impressed by what the librarians are doing under difficult circumstances and limited hours."

But as far as the Minister of Education is concerned, the GN will do what it can when it receives a formal letter from the foundation outlining the stipulations.

"Of course we're interested, and we're looking forward to receiving the letter, but the question is can the GN afford what they are requesting?" said James Arvaluk.

"Libraries in Nunavut will benefit greatly from this, but they (the foundation) has only done their preliminary visit and can't even give us any figures yet."

The librarian in Kugluktuk, however, says she would like to see action on this because there is no doubt that the boost of computers and software would increase community library use.

"It will give the local people more access to the Internet, and to information around the world," said Lucy Nivingalok.

"I think more people would come here if we had computers with the Internet."

Presently, the Kugluktuk library, like many other community libraries, only has two computers, both in need of upgrades and an Internet connection.