Governor Marc Racicot unveils $1 million gift from Bill and Melinda Gates

HELENA, Mont. -- Governor Marc Racicot today announced that Montana public libraries will receive approximately $1 million in grants to purchase computers, Internet access and technical training for public libraries throughout the state of Montana. The Gates Learning Foundation, one of two philanthropic foundations created by Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates, awarded the grants. Richard Akeroyd, executive director of the Gates Library Initiative, presented the award to Governor Racicot and Mike Schulz, Library Commission chair, during a ceremony with the community at the Lewis and Clark Public Library in Helena.

"This is a tremendously generous gift from Bill and Melinda Gates," said Governor Racicot. "Their dedication to helping libraries in Montana and throughout the country continues a long tradition of providing our citizens with a clear pathway to securing knowledge."

Of the 110 libraries in Montana, those serving a population where 10 percent or more of the community lives in poverty are eligible to receive grants from the Foundation to purchase computers, technical training and establish Internet access. Those public libraries serving populations with poverty levels lower than 10 percent will be eligible to purchase computers at a discounted rate, in addition to receiving donated software, technical assistance and training. Separately, Microsoft Corporation will donate software with an estimated value of $600,000.

"Equal access to learning is a fundamental principle of a library's reason for being," said Mike Schulz. "It is critical that information be available to everyone. Computer literacy is a basic requirement for employment in the new millennium and Montana libraries are pleased to be able to provide this new service."

The mission of the Gates Learning Foundation is to bridge the "digital divide" – the gap between those who have access to the information and knowledge found through computers and the Internet and those who do not. "By partnering with Montana libraries, we know we can make access to knowledge and information a reality for all of the people in Montana," said Richard Akeroyd.

To date, the Gates Learning Foundation has worked with more than 1,600 under-served public libraries in 29 states to bring Internet access and training to their patrons. The Foundation's five-year goal is to reach more than 10,000 American and 1,400 Canadian libraries, and provide training for librarians, taking an active role to provide information access for future generations.

According to the National Telecommunications and Information Agency's (NTIA) July 1998 report, "Falling Through the Net II: New Data on the Digital Divide," personal computer ownership has increased by almost 52 percent since 1985. In the same time period, Internet access has increased by close to 140 percent, and e-mail access has expanded by almost 400 percent. However, this amazing growth in technology use has occurred to a greater extent within some income levels, demographic groups, and geographic groups over others, and the gap is growing.

The highest percentage of people with on-line access are those earning more than $75,000 annually in urban areas (50.3 percent); the lowest percentage of people with on-line access are those earning between $5,000 and $10,000 annually in rural areas (2.3 percent).