MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — The Twin Lakes Library System (TLLS) has been selected as one of 144 finalists out of 4,500 applicants in the Knight Cities Challenge, a program that gives grants to entities for their ideas to make their respective communities better.

Applicants were asked to answer the question, “What’s your best idea to make your cities more successful?”

“The finalists use creativity and inventiveness to tackle community challenges and realize new opportunities, proposing ideas that are unique to their city, but also hold lessons and inspiration for civic innovators across the country,” said George Abbott, Knight Foundation director for community and national initiatives in a press release.

The local library system was one of about 30 winners in the Knight Cities Challenge last year with TLLS Director Stephen Houser’s idea for the Milledgeville Democracy Lab. That grant was for $25,000 and its major project was setting up a mock presidential election for students at Baldwin High School a few weeks prior to Election Day. Houser said that grant runs through November and that there are other projects on the horizon for the money. 

The new idea that is currently still in the running for this year’s Knight Cities Challenge is one sparked from the Milledgeville Democracy Lab, according to Houser. This year’s project is titled “The Year of Voting Dangerously” and would provide funds for a mobile voting booth where residents can vote on issues not just on Election Day.

“Here in Baldwin County, especially, we have high [voter] turnout, which is a great thing, but we’d like to see if there’s a way to get people engaged year-round,” Houser said. “The pop-up voting booth was something we thought might be a good way to do that. It would be interactive, there would be prizes for voting, and it wouldn’t be on electoral issues but on issues concerning the community or maybe even fun questions that people want to poll people about. With the Democracy Lab we’ve looked into doing community-wide surveys and those things are very expensive.”

He added that it wouldn’t just be simply stepping into a booth and casting a vote. Plans are to hold contests for submitting good questions and to consult local artists for their input on design ideas for the voting booth.

According to the press release from the Knight Foundation, winners will be announced in the spring and receive a share of $5 million. The Knight Cities Challenge is in its third year and has named 69 winners in its first two years.