Library of Virginia unveils $3 million gift From Bill and Melinda Gates

Jan Hathcock
Phone: 804.692.3592
Email: [email protected]

RICHMOND, Va. — The Library of Virginia announced today that Virginia public libraries will receive approximately $3 million in grants and services in the form of computers, Internet access and technical training for libraries in low-income communities. The Gates Library Initiative, a program of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will distribute the grants. Tom Mayer, U.S. Library Programs Manager for the Foundation, presented the award to Secretary of Education Wilbert Bryant and Secretary of Technology Donald Upson, during a ceremony at the Library of Virginia’s annual public library directors meeting.

“Not since Andrew Carnegie has such a tremendous gift been given to Virginians in the form of assistance to libraries,” Secretary Bryant said. “On behalf of the citizens of Virginia, I thank Bill and Melinda Gates for their generosity. This gift ensures that Virginians will have access to the latest information technologies through their public libraries.”

“The Commonwealth benefits greatly from our private sector’s position at the heart of many technological industries,” Secretary Upson said. “This gift from Bill and Melinda Gates will allow all citizens of Virginia to benefit from the knowledge and power available through the Internet.”

Grants from the Foundation are targeted particularly to libraries and library branches that serve communities where 10 percent or more of the population lives in poverty. Of the 351 public libraries in Virginia, more than 165 libraries will be eligible for cash grants to purchase computers, Internet access and technical training. Libraries serving populations with less than 10 percent poverty will still receive technical training and are eligible to purchase computers at a discounted rate. Virginia is the 14th state to announce funding through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Library Initiative.

Separately, Microsoft Corporation will donate software with an estimated value of $2.2 million to libraries receiving Foundation grants. Upon completion of the grant applications, the state’s libraries should start receiving equipment and training beginning in the spring of 2001.

Some of the grant funds may be used to establish computer training labs in the state. Each lab will feature public access computers for staff and patron training, a computer applications server, a laser printer and a large screen monitor for demonstrations.

According to the National Telecommunication and Information Agency’s (NTIA) July 1999 report, “Falling Through The Net III: New Data on the Digital Divide,” the highest percentage of people using the Internet are those earning more than $75,000 annually in urban areas (58.9 percent); the lowest percentage of people using the Internet are those in rural areas earning between $5,000 and $10,000 annually (12.1 percent).

Since the inception of the Gates Library Initiative in 1997, the Foundation has awarded grants of more than $32,000,000 to 1,900 libraries to bring Internet access to their patrons, as well as provide staff with technical assistance and training to bridge the “digital divide.”