The Rural Library and

Broadband Access:

Challenges and Opportunity

The Digital Divide

• Concept arose in the 1990s, referring to the gap between Internet haves and have-nots

• Unequal access due to:

– Socioeconomic status, race, educational attainment, rural, infrastructure, geography

• Rural areas face low adoption rates due to cost, geographic isolation, lack of knowledge

Solutions

• Government introduced E-Rate program in

1996, providing discounts to libraries and

schools

• Additional support from ARRA (2008- ),

National Broadband Initiative (2009 -)

• For all areas, especially rural, the public

library is looked to as an anchor institution

Rural Libraries

• Definition: Inconsistent; Not urban

• Used to lag far behind urban counterparts,

but today, nearly 100% offer Web access

• Still face large challenges in funding,

support, service delivery, patronage

• Can seize opportunity to add to service

delivery, advocacy, community leadership

Economic Challenges

• Lots of funding has been put into place to

establish connections

• Increased maintenance/updating costs

• Human costs:

– IT Staff? Nope.

– Staff’s time for user training/assistance

– Little training available for librarians

Geographic and Cultural Challenges

• Rural folks are among those who might

benefit most from effective access, but

they are among least aware

– Increased need for library to promote/educate

– Local governments not likely to increase

funds

• Geographic isolation makes it difficult to

get support service and for patrons to

access library

Opportunities for Improvement

• Grants should be simplified so small/less knowledgeable libraries can get them

• Grants should be more flexible to accommodate unique needs

• ALA Committee on Rural, Native, and Tribal Libraries of All Kinds and Clarion University’s Center for the Study of Rural Librarianship have contributed little in recent research

Questions?

(If I haven’t put you to sleep)