“Individuals and communities need to have the technical capacity to fully participate in modern society, our democracy, and economic life,” Rosenworcel said, echoing the National Digital Inclusion Alliance’s definition of digital equity. “And I think for that to be true, we need to make sure 100% of us, no matter who we are, where we … Continue reading The State of the Digital Divide
Macmillan Ebook Policy Draws Fire Macmillan Publishers announced a policy preventing libraries from purchasing more than one copy of a new ebook title for the first eight weeks after a book’s release. In protest, American Library Association (ALA) launched the #eBooksForAll petition, which by November 27 had garnered more than 216,000 signatures. Said ALA President … Continue reading 2019 Year in Review
In February 2015 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved an order that gave internet users the strongest net neutrality protections to date, after a rulemaking process that generated the greatest number of public comments in the agency’s history. Those rules limited the power of internet service providers (ISPs)—like Verizon and Comcast—to slow websites, block mobile … Continue reading Save the Internet Bill Introduced
The American Library Association (ALA), which filed an amicus brief in 2018 with other groups seeking to defend net neutrality in Mozilla, asserts net neutrality is essential for a library to meet its public mission of increasing access to information. In 2015, the FCC adopted strong net neutrality policies to require all internet traffic to be … Continue reading Net Neutrality Updates
Michelle Obama at Annual At the Annual Conference of the American Library Association (ALA) in New Orleans, former First Lady Michelle Obama and Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden conversed before an overflow crowd of 8,000. Obama spoke about her family, her career, and writing her memoir—and about getting her first library card at age 4. … Continue reading 2018 Year in Review
More than 35 states have introduced legislation to protect net neutrality, although only four (California, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington) have passed laws. Several governors have also issued executive orders related to net neutrality. The details of state net neutrality actions vary significantly, but common provisions are: prohibiting all internet service providers (ISPs) in a state … Continue reading The State of Net Neutrality
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
“When I was 8 years old, I won one of those bookmark contests,” he told the crowd at his Big Ideas session at the Public Library Association Conference in Philadelphia on March 24. Wu still has the joke book he won for his prize-winning entry. “It was probably one of my proudest achievements of all … Continue reading A Free and Public-Serving Internet
UPDATE: Tell Congress to restore net neutrality through this ALA Action Alert. As expected, the FCC voted 3–2 along party lines to repeal the 2015 Net Neutrality Order, which required internet service providers (like Verizon or Comcast) to offer equal access to all web content without charging more for faster delivery or giving preferential treatment … Continue reading Shoulder to Shoulder with Net Rights Advocates
As part of a coordinated Internet Day of Action on July 12, librarians, library supporters, and others called on the FCC to keep the current net neutrality rules and shared their worries that an internet with “slow lanes” would hurt libraries and the communities they serve. More than 1,640 alerts were sent through ALA’s action … Continue reading Next Steps on Net Neutrality
Net neutrality is the principle that internet service providers (ISPs) must enable access to all content and applications regardless of the source and without favoring or blocking specific services or websites. The American Library Association (ALA) has been on the front lines of the net neutrality battle with the FCC, Congress, and the federal courts for … Continue reading Help Save Internet Fairness
“I see it as a trend that is going to take us backward in time,” says Mike Robinson, professor of library science and head of the systems department at the Consortium Library of the University of Alaska Anchorage. “The internet is supposed to represent a democratization of access to information, and libraries are part of … Continue reading Net Neutrality Under Attack
