E-Rate Archives | Page 2 of 3 | American Libraries Magazine

ALA Recommends Libraries Leave Wi-Fi Open During Closures

March 23, 2020

Our current crisis demands extraordinary measures. As most states and the federal government declare states of emergency, we appreciate that libraries and other public facilities have closed temporarily to support critical social distancing efforts. Our top priority and concern is the health and safety of our library staffs and the diverse communities we serve. As … Continue reading ALA Recommends Libraries Leave Wi-Fi Open During Closures →

FCC Adopts ALA E-Rate Recommendations

By Marijke Visser | December 12, 2019

Since its inception in 1998, E-Rate, also known as the Schools and Libraries Universal Service Support Mechanism, has provided discounts on advanced telecommunications services to public libraries and K–12 schools. The program covers internet access (Category 1) and much of the internal wiring and equipment (Category 2) necessary for libraries to deliver important services, such … Continue reading FCC Adopts ALA E-Rate Recommendations →

Possible Threat to the E-Rate Program

By Bob Bocher | July 30, 2019

The E-Rate program is critical to ensure adequate and affordable broadband connectivity and internet access for schools and libraries. In addition, the program supports such network enhancements as Wi-Fi connectivity hotspots. In its comments to the FCC, ALA made it clear that it opposes placing a funding cap on the USF. Since the E-Rate program’s … Continue reading Possible Threat to the E-Rate Program →

14 Tiles to the Right

SDPL turned those missed opportunities into a vision for the pueblo. The library worked with the Tribal Council to unite Santo Domingo with the Cochiti, San Felipe, and Santa Ana Pueblos and establish the Middle Rio Grande (MRG) Pueblo Tribal Consortium, a unique, 100% tribally-owned fiber optic network. MRG secured a 90% discount on the … Continue reading 14 Tiles to the Right →

Hope, Power, Action

By Jim Neal | May 1, 2018

The current and prospectively annual battles over funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and Innovative Approaches to Literacy have dominated our advocacy work. We have sustained and even expanded funding for IMLS in FY2018, but we are already pushing for support for FY2019 appropriations. At the same time, other important aspects … Continue reading Hope, Power, Action →

Esti Brennan (left) teaches a class in the DCPL’s central branch lab space. Photo: DCPL

Making Space for Libraries on Capitol Hill during National Library Week

By Emily Wagner | April 6, 2018

To invite members of Congress and their staffers into the world of library makerspaces, the Washington Office is working with DC Public Library (DCPL) to bring its Fab Lab to Capitol Hill in an event hosted by Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.Mex.) on Wednesday, April 11. Luján is a participant of the Congressional Maker Caucus, … Continue reading Making Space for Libraries on Capitol Hill during National Library Week →

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) receives an award from the National Coalition for Technology in Education and Training on the 20th anniversary of the E-Rate program.

Celebrating 20 Years of E-Rate

By Emily Wagner | January 30, 2018

The event brought retired senator and E-Rate champion John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) back to Washington for the first time since January 2015. “How could I not be here for this?” he said. “The start of E-Rate was an amazing effort,” Rockefeller said. “It was a day of bipartisanship, and E-Rate was the most bipartisan program ever … Continue reading Celebrating 20 Years of E-Rate →

Young patrons at the Ak-Chin Indian Community Library in Maricopa, Arizona, use tablets to code by connecting to library Wi-Fi. (Photo: Jeffrey Stoffer/Ak-Chin Indian Community Library)

Bringing Broadband to Tribal Lands

By Kathi Kromer and Jody Gray | December 12, 2017

Access to high-speed broadband is vital to our nation’s economic well-being, and libraries are taking a leading role in providing it. For many underserved communities—particularly in rural areas—libraries provide the only access to broadband. Tribal lands in many states are both rural and underserved. The lack of high-speed broadband means for many tribal residents that … Continue reading Bringing Broadband to Tribal Lands →

The Montana delegation (from left): Kenning Arlitsch, dean of Montana State University (MSU) Renne Library in Bozeman; Bruce Newell, chair of Montana Library Commission in Helena; Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.); Ann Dutton Ewbank, director of the MSU School Library Certificate Program; Heather Dickerson, teen services librarian at Lewis and Clark Library in Helena; Jennie Stapp, Montana state librarian; Bernadine Abbott Hoduski, Montana native and retired librarian of the US Joint Committee on Printing for 25 years; and John Finn, director of Lewis and Clark Library.

Montana Goes to Washington

By George M. Eberhart | May 3, 2017

One secret of NLLD is that talking with office staffers about the state (what section they are from, the best places to ski, theaters and restaurants of the past, alma maters) is an excellent ice breaker and serves to relax everyone, including the librarians. Stapp’s group did this with finesse. Daines’s aide Joshua Sizemore is … Continue reading Montana Goes to Washington →

In D.C., It’s All about Our Values

By Keith Michael Fiels | March 1, 2017

As an Association, we advocate for a wide range of federal legislation and policy issues, from intellectual freedom and privacy to access to government information to preservation to copyright. We also advocate for funding for library programs, including the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), the E-Rate program, … Continue reading In D.C., It’s All about Our Values →

Linda Lord, former Maine state librarian, accepts the inaugural Access to Opportunity award from Senator Angus King (I-Maine) on behalf of Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine).

Celebrating 20 Years of the Telecommunications Act

By Nancy Gravatt | February 12, 2016

All week leading up to the event, this diverse group of stakeholders flooded the web with celebratory tweets using the hashtag #96×20, thanking the Telecom Act for connecting libraries and schools, enabling innovation, and fostering competition. To further highlight the library message about how the Telecom Act, especially the E-Rate Program, has fueled the services … Continue reading Celebrating 20 Years of the Telecommunications Act →

OITP Deputy Director Larra Clark asks how many people in the audience are logged into the conference center's Wi-Fi

Washington Office Update

By Amy Carlton | January 10, 2016

Washington Office Executive Director Emily Sheketoff started by noting “how important your voice is in the successes ALA achieves,” specifically citing the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act in December. Sheketoff said lawmakers were able to get library-friendly requirements into the bill because ALA members made the effort to call and write to their … Continue reading Washington Office Update →

Latest Library Links

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Angela Hursh writes: “Libraries have great stories to tell. But getting the media to listen isn’t always easy. Here are the top 10 practical tips that Leslie Marinelli, communications manager at Forsyth County (Ga.) Public Library; Ray Holley, communications manager at Sonoma County (Calif.) Library; and I shared [at a recent online panel] for getting your library into the news.”

Super Library Marketing, June 30
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Pranay Parab writes: “I’ve mostly been really happy with my M1 MacBook Air, which I’ve been using for nearly three years now. However, I regret not going for the variant with 16GB of RAM. The newer laptop still occasionally slows down when I open too many browser tabs. Luckily, I did some troubleshooting and fixed the problem, and I’m here to share what I’ve learned with you. So, if Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari or other browsers are slowing down on your computer, try some of these tips to nip that problem in the bud.”

Lifehacker, June 26
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Victoria Cox writes: “LaRue County (Ky.) Board of Education heard both criticism and praise last week when members were asked to remove 14 books from the high school library. Although the vote was split, the board ultimately refused to ban the books, citing the need to uphold the constitutional rights of students” by a 4–1 vote. Books the board considered include The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood; Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi; Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas, and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

LaRue County (Ky.) Herald News, June 25
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Jennifer A. Keach, Jenne M. Klotz, and Galen J. Talis write: “Library leaders at all levels are well-placed to create opportunities for joy in their organizations and to model how to do so with nuance and balance. Toward that end, we explored the multidisciplinary literature and compiled an annotated bibliography for leaders who wish to support joy within groups, organizational change agents who want to create equitable conditions for joy in the workplace, and readers seeking to develop their personal practice of joy. We provide a guide exploring five themes: defining joy, finding individual joy, work and organizational joy, empowering change with joy, and joy-adjacent emotions.”

Library Leadership and Management, June 30
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David Vickers Loertscher and Michelle Young write: “This tutorial introduces school librarians to the use of data visualization tools for documenting and communicating their impact on teaching and learning. By leveraging accessible platforms like Google Forms and Google Sheets, the authors demonstrate how librarians can build dashboards and real-time visual reports to showcase co-teaching, instructional collaboration, and student engagement. The tutorial features real-world examples, highlights common data sources already available to librarians, and argues that dynamic visual storytelling is a powerful alternative to traditional library statistics.”

Learning Hub, June 25
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Robin Camille Davis writes: “It wasn’t until seven years into my career as a user experience librarian that I realized I’d been accidentally excluding a sizable segment of users from my user research. Interviews, surveys, and usability studies favor people who are gifted at oral and written communication. What about people who are more gifted at visual communication? In the context of user research, this participatory design invites participants to design their own response to a given prompt.”

Choice 360 LibTech Insights, June 30
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Stories from communities nationwide come to life on ALA’s new Show Up for Our Libraries interactive site map. The stories illustrate the real-life consequences of potential funding cuts to rural, research, city, state, and university library programs and, in turn, to the hundreds of millions of library users across the country. Services such as summer reading programs, telehealth resources, interlibrary loan, and ebooks have all been affected. ALA collected the stories in conversation with patrons, library professionals, and advocates across the country to better understand the impact of federal funding cuts since the President’s executive order to dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

ALA Public Policy and Advocacy Office, June 25

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