Today’s blog was inspired by reading Libraries: Broadband Leaders of the 21st Century by Craig Settles, a well-known broadband advocate. As someone who hasn’t been to a library for many years his paper surprised me with the number of different ways that libraries are engaged in broadband today.
Probably the best known role of libraries is as a source of broadband for those who don’t have access anywhere else. Libraries today offer broadband at computers as well as WiFi for patrons to use on their own devices. A recent FCC report noted that in most cities anywhere from 15% to 25% of citizens don’t have broadband at home, and for many of them the library is a place they can get access to the web. This access lets kids do homework, provides job training for those looking to change careers and gives access to government web sites that are increasingly moving input to social systems on-line.
But many libraries go a lot farther. For instance, there are libraries today that are lending mobile hot spots to enable people to have internet access outside the library for a few hours at a time. Many libraries are at the center of efforts to improve digital literacy and they have programs to train people in computer skills and to help them accomplish needed tasks on the web. Many library systems also have training programs in advanced computer skills like coding.
Libraries everywhere want larger faster broadband connections. In many communities the libraries get the same speeds of broadband that are available at homes. And while having a 100 Mbps connection sounds fast, when that much bandwidth is divvied up among a hundred patrons it slows to a crawl. And sadly, there are still a lot of libraries across the country that are served by only T1s or slow DSL connections.
The White House announced a goal in 2013 in the ConnectED initiative to get at least 100 Mbps connection to schools and libraries within five years, with the ultimate goal being gigabit bandwidth. And there has been a lot of progress, but the most recent FCC Broadband Progress Report says that 41% of schools and libraries still don’t have 100 Mbps connections.
Libraries can get assistance to build broadband facilities using the Schools and Libraries portion of the Universal Service Fund, and which is generally referred to as the E-rate program. This fund can be used to subsidize the monthly broadband bills, but can also be used for physical parts of the network like fiber to connect library branches or WiFi systems within a library.
Some communities have been able to really leverage E-rate funding by tying their schools and libraries together into an integrated network and by using libraries to meet educational goals of the schools. It’s generally easier to get funding for schools compared to libraries, but by networking them together you can bring some of that funding in to help improve the libraries and to make them an integral part of the education complex. This leverage can be expanded to be even stronger by linking networks to hospitals and leveraging funding available to improve broadband for healthcare.
Settles makes a case for allowing libraries to participate in the upcoming Lifeline program that will provide $10 monthly subsidies for broadband for qualifying low-income homes. Since libraries are the source of broadband for many low-income people an argument can be made that spending that subsidy at a library can benefit more people than spending it at one home. It’s an interesting concept and would take action by the FCC or USAC, the entity that administers the Universal Service Fund.
Since most cities are still far away from a time when there will be affordable broadband available to everybody, the libraries are likely to continue to be an important part of the broadband solution for most communities. It’s important for library administrators to understand the options available to them to maximize the funding they can get to provide public broadband. Papers like the one written by Settles are an important step in that process.