Partnership with North American libraries gives millions access to the Internet

SEATTLE -- A collaborative effort between the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and North American libraries is more than halfway toward a goal of providing free public access to the Internet by installing computers and links to the Internet in 11,000 public libraries in low-income U.S. and Canadian communities. An independent assessment of this effort to bring Internet-based information to every library shows that it is achieving its goal of providing access for many otherwise underserved citizens.

Over the past two and a half years 7,082 libraries in the U.S. and Canada have received grants to purchase computers and access to the Internet, representing a $100.7 million investment.

Libraries are a natural mechanism for closing the Digital Divide, a troubling gap between those who have access to technology and the Internet, and those who do not, because of their strong, democratic tradition of providing free access to information for all. The partnership between the Foundation and local libraries has helped reinvigorate these important community institutions and place them center stage in worldwide efforts to provide equal access to technology.

Approximately 28,978 computers have been granted in communities stretching from the Yukon Territory to Texas and from New York to California, providing free access to information to roughly 145.3 million people – almost half the population of North America.

"Librarians from Alabama to British Columbia are taking a leadership role in ensuring that all people, regardless of age, race, income or location, have access to digital information," said Richard Akeroyd, the Foundation's Executive Director of Libraries and Public Access to Information. "The Foundation is proud to support them in their efforts."

An independent assessment by the University of Washington of the effort's initial stages reveals positive effects for libraries and their patrons, many of whom had little or no prior computerized access to information. Students and low-income residents were the heaviest users of the new computers. For more than half of the unemployed users who used the library as a resource while looking for work, the library computers were their only source of access. The study also tracked a positive shift in staff morale in libraries that had received computers and training, as well as increased library traffic.

Professor Andrew Gordon from the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington leads the evaluation. Gordon and his team of researchers have conducted numerous studies on the impacts of poverty on quality of life. "Our assessment of the initial stages of the effort showed that it is meeting its goal – making technology more accessible to people living in low-income communities and to those otherwise without meaningful access to this new world of information," said Gordon. "It also has revealed the challenges in sustaining these positive changes."

Key features of the effort which address sustainability include in-depth training for librarians and staff, three years of ongoing technical support and an intern program, which works to foster relationships among library schools and public libraries by hiring library science students to help with computer installation and training.

With the implementation of the effort in California, Kevin Starr, the state librarian, has seen a difference in how libraries in his state are able to serve their patrons. "Our libraries have greatly expanded access to computers and the Internet in communities with significant poverty," he said, "and patrons are happy with the change. In Glendale, people wanting to use the computer used to have to wait in line; now, everyone has access."

There is strong evidence that this and other similar efforts are making a dent in the Digital Divide. The U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) recently released the results of its 2000 Internet Connectivity Study, which measured the level of connectivity, public access, training support and technology funding for staff and the public. The NCLIS found that in the last two years, Internet connectivity in public libraries has increased from 83 percent of libraries being connected to over 95 percent. And in the same time period, libraries have nearly doubled the number of public access workstations.

Libraries throughout North America have used resources provided by the Foundation to support a variety of efforts all aimed at increasing public access to information. Libraries in the Yukon Territory created a laptop computer lab that travels to remote areas not served by a local library. It is one of 14 laptop labs and 27 fixed training labs created throughout Canada. Penrose, an inner-city neighborhood in North St. Louis, put funds toward building a technology center, which students from the surrounding neighborhood use to do homework after school.

This collaborative effort between North American libraries and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is one of the largest and most comprehensive initiatives to give people free and equal access to information. Once completed, close to 70 percent of all North American public libraries will be open gateways to digital information. Further, with thousands of librarians, more knowledgeable about technology and how to access information, they are becoming key players in a sustained effort to provide equal access to information.

"The scope of this program, added to the ground covered by others, means that libraries are becoming one of the leading forces in addressing the Digital Divide," said Akeroyd.