Good news for the Sherburne History Center – with funding from the Blandin Foundation, they were able to improve broadband for staff and patrons. According to the Sherburne County Citizen…

Visitors and staff at the Sherburne History Center will now have complete access to high-speed Internet, thanks to a cooperative effort between the county and the Blandin Foundation.

Two weeks ago, a project funded by Blandin and the county was completed, bringing broadband to the center. …

“We had to run a fiberoptic line between the two buildings,” he says. “Then we wired the internal access points and installed the equipment to communicate across those fiber lines for public wi-fi.”

Now the History Center has high speed Internet and wi-fi throughout the building.

The improved broadband will help the history center provide better (and more) services…

That’s good news for staff and visitors who need to do research or use the Internet for meetings.

History Center Director Mike Brubaker says the lack of Internet in the past was a big issue.

“We used to be able to rent out this facility to groups like Xcel Energy. But as the technology advanced, they wanted to start showing programs through Skype and other online sources,” he says.

“Our system was too slow, so they stopped using the History Center. Now we’re going to be able to enhance that and bring more people back into the facility.”

The lack of Internet access has also been a problem for regular programs, like the monthly genealogy program where people search their family history.

“People who were doing ancestral searches would do their research here and then go home or somewhere else to get connectivity,” says Kamman. “Now they can stay here and be more efficient.”