Colombian Library Foundation Wins $1-Million Gates Award

 One of the most misunderstood aspects of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s annual $1-million Access to Learning Award is the fact that it is given not for ideas but for achievements, and not for potential but for sustainability. This year’s winner, the Fundación Empresas Publicas de Medellín (EPM Foundation) in Colombia, which was recognized for its Network of Public Libraries, makes the concept clear. As Deborah Jacobs, director of Global Libraries for the Gates Foundation, said in announcing the award August 25 at the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions' (IFLA) conference in Milan, “They’ve been a good model for not just a city resolving its longstanding problems but in seeing that libraries belong at the table, that they are partners in the initiative.” The EPM Foundation received the award for “its innovative use of technology in public libraries to promote community development.” Jacobs noted that “the EPM Foundation’s efforts have contributed to the revitalization of Medellín by providing residents with access to information and training, and creating new hope and a renewed sense of community.”  Because the winning library is kept secret until the IFLA conference, the Access to Learning Award presentation has become something of a media event, with the Gates Foundation guarding the secret until it is released to the world simultaneously with the IFLA program. Italian media showed up for the announcement, doing interviews with Jacobs and the EPM representatives who came to Milan to accept the award: Horatio Vilez de Bedout bringing greetings from the mayor of Medellín, Paula Restrepo Duque, and EPM Executive Director Clara Patricia Restrepo, who said through an interpreter that the EPM Foundation’s goal was “to close the digital divide and make us the most educated city in the country.” Jacobs noted that the library’s success was already becoming legend in South America, with other countries hoping to model Medellín’s success. "Their work is a stunning example of how a country can use the power of public libraries and technology to transform people's lives." Bill Gates Sr., cochair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, gave a brief prerecorded message explaining that the EPM Foundation had been selected to receive the award because of its ability to transform Medellín through the resources offered in its 34 libraries. "The fact that these resources are available for free is not just a bonus, it's an absolute fundamental," he said. "To anchor a community the library must be equally open to all people within the community. That is what the Access to Learning Award is about, to give all people the opportunity to build great futures for themselves. The EPM Foundation and its libraries are helping Colombians to build great futures."