Stimulus Broadband Package Looks To Help Libraries Across The U.S.
Another crucial beneficiary of the proposed stimulus bill's broadband provisions: libraries.
Library Journal digs in and explores what the economic stimulus could mean for America’s oft-neglected public libraries.
Not only would the broadband money provide many libraries with the connection speeds they desperately need, but the Senate bill sets aside $200 million specifically for “competitive grants for expanding public computer center capacity, including at community colleges and public libraries.”
The American Library Association explains the role that libraries and computer centers can play in jumpstarting the sputtering economy:
"We see this stimulus not just as a great way to help libraries but [also a way] to bring services and applications now exclusively online to the American public," Lynne Bradley of the American Library Association’s (ALA) Washington Office, told LJ.
"...Libraries are unique and special institutions that are going to make broadband and its applications become real to the American public," citing job-hunting, distance learning, and other applications that would improve our economy."
As the world shrinks and moves into the 21st century, it’s imperative that every community in America is connected to the global economy through computers and high speed internet. And few places are more important to plug in than our public libraries, where every citizen has equal access.
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