Tag Archives: rural

Tips from the field: Maximize broadband impact and minimize costs

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In previous blogs we discussed discrepancies between rural, urban, and suburban public libraries in their access to and use of broadband.  We also pointed out that despite a number of issues and difficulties in providing high-quality rural broadband and information technology (IT) services, individuals can and do make a huge difference in minimizing the impacts from the digital divide.

For today’s blog, we interviewed Sherry Millington, Technical Services Coordinator, and manager of IT at the Suwannee River Regional Library that covers three rural counties in north central Florida.  Some high points from our chat about how the library system maximizes broadband impact and minimizes costs include:

  • Establish a triage and general maintenance program throughout the system.  Basic issues can be solved in the individual branch, or if not, then they go to the county IT person, and then to Sherry.  One person in each branch is responsible for conducting a range of workstation and IT-related maintenance activities.
  • Use existing web-based resources.  Sherry specifically pointed out all the excellent education and other resources at TechSoup – for example.
  • Maximize use of E-rate. Her system qualifies for 80-90% E-rate discounts which are essential in supporting IT in the library system.
  • Recognize and support customer broadband needs.  For example, each branch in the system has an “E-gov” laptop that is loaded with resources, software, job search information etc. and is “ready to go.”
  • Find free workstations and equipment.  Sherry noted a number of local government agencies and organizations that, when they replace workstations and equipment, will give them to the library – this is especially important since their replacement schedule is much more often than at the library.
  • Check for deals with area Internet Service Providers (ISPs) on a regular basis to get the fastest speeds and cheapest costs possible.
  • Rely on a regional consortium if available.  The Suwannee River Regional Library is a member of an outstanding multi-type library consortium: Northeast Florida Library Information Network (NEFLIN).  NEFLIN hosts the library system’s website, provides email services, and offers regular and ongoing training sessions – among other benefits.
  • Work the local political system.  The library system has a history of administrators who work closely and effectively with local government officials and other key opinion leaders to promote the library.

Promoting the library system also entails making comparisons between the system and selected peer library systems regarding various Internet support and services as reported in the Public Library Funding and Technology Access Study.

Sherry is also a board member for the North Florida Broadband Authority NFBA) which has a National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Broadband Technology Opportunities Program award to establish a high-speed WiMax network in this rural region.  Here she is able to be a visible and credible supporter of the role of rural libraries in broadband deployment.

These are only some of the highlights from a quick chat with Sherry – and clearly her enthusiasm and dedication contribute significantly to the broadband success in her rural library system.  One person can and does make a big difference in the library’s deployment of, access to, and use of high-speed broadband.

Other readers of this blog are likely to have additional advice that can maximize a library’s broadband impact and reduce costs – leave a comment so we all can learn more!

The broadband challenge for rural public libraries

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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.