In Beverly Choltco-Devlin’s December 17, 2011 reply to my earlier digital divide posting, she correctly identifies a range of “challenges” that face rural public libraries in providing high-speed broadband to their users and then concludes:
…for many of those living in geographically remote rural areas with limited infrastructure or those who suffer greatly from the current economic crisis, I believe the local public library is the place of ONLY resort for equal access to information and the ONLY HOPE for closing the digital divide.
I stand corrected from my December 13 posting in which I stated that many “public libraries were increasingly becoming the place of both first resort and last resort to address the digital divide and obtain Internet training/assistance.” Maybe the correct wording is “first resort, last resort, and oftentimes the ONLY resort!”
Tables 21 and 22 in the 2010-2011 Public Library Funding and Technology Access Survey document the extent to which residents relying on rural public libraries are handicapped in their use of and access to broadband and the quality of broadband access available to them:
- 66% of urban public libraries have a fiber broadband connection while only 22% of rural public libraries have a fiber connection;
- 22% of urban public libraries have a 10-20 megabit per second (Mbps) connection while only 6% of rural public libraries have a 10-20 Mbps connection; and
- While 21% of urban public libraries have a broadband connection greater than 40 Mbps, only 6% of rural public libraries can boast of such a connection.
Similar discrepancies are also found in urban versus rural public library information technology staffing, Internet training and programming, total workstations, wireless connections, and general resource support for high-speed broadband access and services.
Yet, interestingly enough, a recent paper found that some U.S. rural libraries have been able to take leadership positions in their communities for broadband access and use. Considering broadband a community asset, coordinating local organizations’ use of broadband (e.g., schools, county health departments, local government, etc.), promoting training and education, and fighting for equitable (cheaper) broadband contracts with local Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are all part of the formula.
While ISP availability and speed are critically important, our research shows that one of the most important elements for successful rural broadband public library access and use, oftentimes, is the presence of a dynamic, innovative, and charismatic public library director (or other librarian) who has great credibility and visibility with other community leaders, organizations, and local residents.
Once again, individuals can and do make a difference—and clearly some individual rural public library directors and staff maximize residents’ access to and use of the Internet whether access is the first resort, the last resort, or the ONLY resort —even with all the challenges and difficulties they must overcome!
But despite how good these rural public librarians might be, we also need the US government through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to make good on one of its 2012 new year resolutions, which is “Expanding High Speed Internet Access and Adoption,” while noting that 1 in 3 US households lack high-speed Internet service—some 100 million Americans. We’ll probe more into rural public library high-speed broadband provision and issues in a future posting.
Are there programs or initiatives that allow public libraries to offer wi-fi access to entire communities? If we could do that, or participate securing access for our rural communities, we would be leveraging our future growth with essential services.
I am posting the following for one of our community members who chooses to remain anonymous:
“This is an issue very close to me as where we live, we do not have access to cable services. We are still on an antennae system for our television, although some of our neighbors have switched to the dish.
With my upcoming retirement in September, we are beginning to look at the possibilites for accessing the internet in our home. This has not even been a consideration up to this point, as nothing we have heard about meets the speed of the internet that is provided by our local public library.
Our children’s smart phones allow them access to the internet when they visit, but we cannot even always use our trac phones successfully inside our home. And we hesitate to purchase such an expensive device just for the privilege of having internet access.”
At my tiny Osceola Public Library when I started as Director, Librarian, Janitor etc. in 2008, I was lucky to see 3 people a week in my 6 hour days, 2 days a week. In 2009 the North Country Library System was successful in getting a Bill Gates Grant for Opportunity Online and a Broadband Access Grant and we were included for participation. In July 2010 we were elated to get our new service up and running. Complete with Wi-Fi, we were able to offer Hi Speed internet, inside and outside the library and subscriptions became available to residents within the line-of-view of the antenna atop the building. Until then, only dial-up or expensive satellite hook-ups were the choice. I am now welcoming 20-30 patrons sometimes. Many use the computers, but while they are there, they are very apt to see something they want to borrow. We have a generous benefactor who sends us unneeded and duplicate DVDs which are a great benefit to our population with no video rentals within 20 miles. It is not uncommon to have patrons sitting outside the library in their cars using the Wi-Fi we provide. I have even had snowmobilers and cross country cyclists come in to use the internet!! The Hi speed internet has brought new life to our community and to our library. We are now faced with finding funds and room for expansion for our visitors and our collections!! People who have never been in a library before have become regular customers. The digital divide has been overcome for some of us, but for me in my home, I still have access only to Satellite connection which is expensive and unsatisfactory! Those of us outside the hamlet can rely, however, on the Public Library. The Library connection is supposed to have 25 subscriptions to be able to keep the equipment in July 2012. We do not have that amount and are wondering what will happen should we lose it. I strongly agree that our connection is “first resort, last resort, and oftentimes the ONLY resort in our little town. Many do not even have computers in their homes.
These awfully low rural broadband/connection numbers certainly illustrate (among other things) the importance of considering availability of home access in the communities being served, as you & Beverly point out. And your emphasis on the nuanced IT access/accommodations role played by rural directors is appreciated: in the library funding & technology access study you referenced, 47.6% of rural libraries receive their IT support from the library director while 75.5% of urban libraries receive that support through systemwide IT staff. Directors of all library types are fighting champs in this day and age, but such sobering numbers really highlight the need for streamlined support.
As you note, the need for rural broadband support stems not from lofty-like-preferences, but from need at its most pragmatic. The NTIA’s goals to expand high-speed/wireless broadband & to promote Internet policies for ‘innovation and economic growth’ are admirable to the extent that they implement solid & immediate plans to achieve them. We appreciate the efforts of policymakers, but need them to remember that these should not be leisurely considerations.