Isle of Man Library Sponsored by PokerStars

Online poker giant as cultural benefactor An announcement came this week that the Isle of Man-based online poker provider Pokerstars will be the main benefactor of the islands Family and Mobile Libraries as the venue was facing a closure this month. What the company did is commit through a sponsorship agreement to keep the non-profit library viable, and the jobs of its employees safe for at least another three years. The commitment was achieved through the Manx Educational Foundation (MEF), a not-for-profit organisation established last year to encourage public-private partnerships in the field of education. According to the MEF executive director David Butterworth, "Obviously these are austere times and the need to balance the public finances is a serious one. However, it would be a significant blow to the education of our youth to lose the libraries, as literacy is an essential skill in any industry. As such, we are pleased that PokerStars has stepped up and committed to save these services." It has also been specified that the estimated costs of the support for the libraries will be around GBP 230,000.