Crossing the digital divide

Hoosier public libraries benefitting from Gates Foundation grants, SLIS interns

Finalists for the Gates Foundation internship slots were (left to right) Heather Blasco, Becky White, Pamela Anderson, Dan Amonett, David Beed and Alberta Comer. Each has a story about the Gates internship which will be told on the SLIS Web site in the coming months and online at the IU Home Pages Web site at the end this story.

Part of a nationwide program to help bridge the ‘digital divide’—that gap between those who have access to the power of technology and the Internet and those who don’t, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, along with donated software from Microsoft Corp., is about to have a statewide impact on Indiana libraries in qualifying low-income communities.

Strangely enough, thanks to grants from the Gates Foundation, the best place to turn is the local public library. Even when the library is only partially filled with donated books in a small farming community. The card is free, and recently, so are the computers.

Alberta Davis Comer, a newly appointed Gates Foundation intern through Indiana University’s School of Library and Information Science (SLIS), knows that feeling intimately.

Comer recalls a childhood so poor that she actually didn’t realize windows could be replaced with glass. She believed you just put boards up whenever glass broke.

“I grew up in eastern Oklahoma, close to Sallisaw where The Grapes of Wrath starts. I grew up without access to a public or a real school library. A bookmobile would periodically visit my small town, and I loved the opportunity to browse its shelves. So it’s not surprising that my first job, outside of farm work, was in a library.”

A bookmobile changed her life.

“Later on I worked at a military library in what was then West Germany,” she said. “I have also worked in a public library in Austin, Texas; an academic library (University of Tulsa); a special library (Jewish library located in a synagogue); and have volunteered in public schools checking out books, repairing books, doing story hour, cataloging and working the reference desk. I worked all of these positions without benefit of a bachelor’s degree.”

Comer graduated four years ago from IU, receiving a bachelor’s degree in general studies, with minors in history and sociology, and a certificate in Jewish studies. She had a 4.0 grade-point average and was a Chancellor’s Scholar. She is now attending SLIS to earn a master’s degree in library science (MLS).

What books alone did for Comer, books in partnership with computers can do for generations to come.

And that’s what led her to pursue the Gates Foundation internship at SLIS.

Whenever students apply for an internship opportunity, it’s difficult to know whether the potential experience will live up to expectations. But when once-in-a-lifetime internships became available to participate in a far-reaching Gates Foundation goal to assist public libraries in bringing technology to underprivileged patrons, Comer and five other graduate students jumped at the chance.

How did this all begin?

The Gates Foundation connected with SLIS to hire student interns from the only American Library Association (ALA) accredited graduate library school program in the state of Indiana. Last April Amy Carter, a representative from the Gates Foundation, visited IU’s Bloomington campus to present details of the aggressive Indiana roll-out planned for mid-summer 2001 and ending late next spring.

The Gates Foundation then selected 25 students for interviews out of a large group attending Carter’s presentation. Finalists for the internship slots in addition to Comer were Heather Blasco, Becky White, Pamela Anderson, David Beed and Dan Amonett. Each has a story to tell on the SLIS Web site in the coming months and online at the IU Home Pages Web site at the end of this story.

“These six students make excellent candidates,” said Amy Carter, project coordinator for the Gates Foundation. “They all connect with the mission of the grant program, show technical aptitude, have a demonstrated commitment to public libraries and possess teaching/training experience. They all seem genuinely enthusiastic, eager and well positioned to take full advantage of the opportunity.”

Part of a nationwide program to help bridge the “digital divide”—that gap between those who have access to the power of technology and the Internet, and those who don’t, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, along with donated software from Microsoft Corp. is about to have a statewide impact on Indiana libraries in qualifying low-income communities.

The five-year goal of the Gates’ program is to provide grants to the more than 11,000 libraries in the United States and Canada serving low-income communities; providing training to librarians and ensuring information access for future generations.

Started in 1997, the program was the Gates’ first major philanthropic venture. Since that time the program has made grants to more than 5,800 libraries in the United States, installed more than 25,000 PCs and trained 7,000 librarians. It is anticipated that by the end of 2003, 10,000 libraries in 50 states will have benefitted from the $200 million total investment from the foundation.

This year it is Indiana’s turn to benefit.

The Gates Foundation plans to spend $5.8 million equipping 185 public library buildings in Indiana with computer hardware, software and training. Installation and training across Indiana will be scheduled over the next year and provided by the six SLIS interns. An additional 201 buildings will be eligible for partial grants.

“In all, over 386 library buildings in Indiana will receive either partial or full grants for computer equipment, software and training,” said Ginny Andis at the Library Development Office of the Indiana State Library, the coordinating organization for determining library eligibility that prepared the initial needs assessment to qualify the state for the overall grant. “The Indiana State Library was also able to tap funds to pay for the purchase of computer equipment for those libraries qualifying for partial grants,” Andis added.

How does it work?

Libraries based in Indiana communities where 10 percent or more of the community lives in poverty (statistics based on 1990 U.S. Census) will receive computers, software and training with the Gates Foundation grant money. Public libraries in areas where less than 10 percent of the population lives in poverty will be entitled to take advantage of the Gates software and training offer with actual computers purchased through funding provided by the Indiana State Library.

During the upcoming year, interns will work 20 hours per week; earn academic credit, receive full fee remission for classes taken summer and fall 2001 and spring 2002; and travel all over the state to install and train librarians who will in turn help their patrons use the publicly accessible equipment. Interns for the Gates project are located at Bloomington and Indianapolis, as well as at Fort Wayne and Evansville.

Late June the SLIS interns group flew to Seattle to participate in a three-day intensive hardware and software installation training by the Gates Foundation. Interns selected from the state of Ohio trained alongside the excited Indiana crew.

“Access to and use of information in all formats, but especially electronic access through the Internet, has become a basic need for education and communication in our society,” said Danny Callison, a SLIS professor and the faculty adviser to the six interns. “The Gates Project helps to narrow the gap between the information ‘haves and have-nots’.”

“While not intended to make information technology specialists out of all citizens, the basic skills and awareness of access to information electronically is as foundational today as how to use a phone or the mail in order to be a wise consumer,” he said.

“Citizens of all age groups, from early school to elderly can add to their knowledge base through modern electronic information access, and the Gates Foundation is supporting the network of educational and cultural institutions which have helped citizens for over a hundred years—our local public libraries,” he said..

“Public librarians are potential leaders in information education and cultural development in any community, from the small rural to the isolated poor sections of large metro areas. When public librarians are placed in these environments, local citizens have access to a professional who will help to guide them to resources and skills that improve local literacy and employment options,” Callison said.

What’s it like working with the Gates Foundation? Read more about the SLIS interns at this Web site:

http://www.homepages.indiana.edu/091401/text/interns.html

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation:

http://www.gatesfoundation.org

Indiana State Library:

http://www.statelib.lib.in.us

IU School of Library and Information Science:

http://www.slis.indiana.edu