By Associated Press - Wednesday, February 8, 2017

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) - Illinois Community College Board money will reopen an East St. Louis library that was closed due to the state’s lack of a budget.

The Belleville News Democrat reports (https://bit.ly/2jZlWOB ) that the East St. Louis Higher Education Campus’ library shelves were closed for the last six months. However, the library has reopened as a learning resource center thanks to community college board funding. The facility will be available for Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville students and the public.

Johanna Wharton oversees the library for SIU-Edwardsville’s East St. Louis Center Workforce Development and Strategic Partnerships. She called its closure “a tremendous loss for the community.”



Wharton says she hopes the center becomes a hub for education and career exploration.

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Information from: Belleville News-Democrat, https://www.bnd.com

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