MAKING THE CASE

What We’re Learning: To keep computers available to the public, librarians need help advocating for funding.

More than a decade ago, when the Web was still relatively new, we set the goal that everybody who could get to a public library could get on a computer connected to the Internet. It was Bill and Melinda’s first major philanthropic effort. Starting in 1997, we worked with more than 11,000 libraries in all 50 states to install computers with Internet access.

Eventually, we achieved our goal—virtually 100 percent of libraries are online. But we started to realize that we were not at an end but rather at the beginning of a much longer process. Information technology is constantly changing, and libraries, especially those in low-income communities that are chronically short on funds, have a hard time keeping up.

We believe access to technology should always be a standard service in libraries because millions of low-income people either have no other access or have access that is too slow to run the latest applications. Therefore, the library is the place for them to go to find work, learn about health information, stay in touch with family and friends, and in general tap into the world of information available online. In 2007, we launched a new program in support of that goal called Opportunity Online.

To sustain access to technology, libraries have to generate more funding. Therefore, librarians are going to have to become more proactive advocates, making the case that computers and the Internet are a wise community investment. Research shows that libraries serve their communities in many ways that the public is not even aware of.

Opportunity Online is designed to help librarians gain the confidence and skills to advocate on behalf of their libraries.

The program has two main parts. First, it brings librarians from across the country together for a two-day conference to learn about effective strategies for building relationships with leaders in their communities. Second, it gives grants to libraries to purchase new computers, on the condition that they raise money from other sources as well. This way, their technology programs will stay up to date while they build the networks that will allow them to sustain the programs indefinitely.

When the first training was held in Iowa, four buses full of librarians from the four corners of the state converged on Des Moines. Many of the people who attended the session are the only employees at their libraries, and they had to find volunteers to keep their libraries open during their absence. It was a small sign of how central librarians are to the lives of their communities.

As librarians learn more about how to advocate on their own behalf, libraries will only grow in importance.