What will the public libraries do with the money that Bill and Melinda Gates donated?
On the heels of President-elect Barack Obama’s promise to make broadband access a priority, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has funded a new initiative to improve internet connections for public libraries across seven states. The foundation gave Connected Nation, a non-profit broadband internet advocacy group, and the American Library Association’s Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP) $6,959,771 to establish the project in Arkansas, California, Kansas, Massachusetts, New York, Texas and Virginia. (The bulk of the money went to Connected Nation.) The project kicks off as visits to libraries are on the rise due to the economic crisis, while rich online content is becoming more standard. For instance, the foundation envisions access to online education courses with streaming video and audio, in addition to job and government sites. The seven selected states were ones that had high concentrations of public libraries with internet speeds less than 1.5 Mbps and that had alread
Access to the Internet can change people’s lives. Northern or southern hemisphere, big city or distant village—the Internet provides opportunities for people to improve their lives. When people go online, they can get health facts, use government services, manage finances, look for jobs, do research for school and work, and keep in touch. In the United States, where Internet access has been more widely available, going online also enables people to participate more fully in the social and economic fabric of their communities and make meaningful contributions to society. For many in the United States and for most in developing countries, quality Internet access is not available or affordable. Millions of low-income Americans don’t have computers at home and couldn’t afford monthly Internet fees even if they did. Worldwide, 5 billion people—most of them in developing countries—have no access to the Internet. Public libraries offer free Internet access and computer training. Libraries are
On the heels of President-elect Barack Obama’s promise to make broadband access a priority, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has funded a new initiative to improve internet connections for public libraries across seven states. The foundation gave Connected Nation, a non-profit broadband internet advocacy group, and the American Library Association’s Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP) $6,959,771 to establish the project in Arkansas, California, Kansas, Massachusetts, New York, Texas and Virginia. (The bulk of the money went to Connected Nation.) The project kicks off as visits to libraries are on the rise due to the economic crisis, while rich online content is becoming more standard. For instance, the foundation envisions access to online education courses with streaming video and audio, in addition to job and government sites. The seven selected states were ones that had high concentrations of public libraries with internet speeds less than 1.5 Mbps and that had alread
Access to the Internet can change people’s lives. Northern or southern hemisphere, big city or distant village—the Internet provides opportunities for people to improve their lives. When people go online, they can get health facts, use government services, manage finances, look for jobs, do research for school and work, and keep in touch. In the United States, where Internet access has been more widely available, going online also enables people to participate more fully in the social and economic fabric of their communities and make meaningful contributions to society. For many in the United States and for most in developing countries, quality Internet access is not available or affordable. Millions of low-income Americans don’t have computers at home and couldn’t afford monthly Internet fees even if they did. Worldwide, 5 billion people—most of them in developing countries—have no access to the Internet. Public libraries offer free Internet access and computer training. Libraries are
