Pew Report on Broadband Adoption

I was talking to a librarian this week who said one of her city leaders had seriously suggested that libraries should not be in the business of providig access to the Internet and should stick to their knitting. When city budgets are under extreme duress everything is up for grabs and everyone looks like a target. I am pretty sure that cutting Internet access at the public library wouldn`t happen but it just goes to show that we have to justify every service nowadays.
So this week`s Pew Internet and American Life report is particularly timely:
As Broadband Expands Rapidly, America’s Poor Lag
Home Broadband Adoption 2009
Several groups of Americans have not attained the mark where more than half have home broadband. These include senior citizens, low income Americans, African Americans and rural Americans. Those with only high school education have only just hit 52%.
The role of the public library in providing affordable access to broadband Internet is clear. At this time in the economy we must tie broadband access services to the other programs of the library in assisting people to have greater economic success – finding jobs, taking courses, upgrading skills, helping children succeed, etc.
When the waterhole at the oasis in the desert gets smaller, everyone else starts to look like food. Be prepared.
Remember, nearly every American has broadband access to the web, but only if you include your public library.
Stephen