How to Close the Digital Divide? Fund Public Libraries

Celano, Donna C. and Susan B. Neuman. “How to Close the Digital Divide? Fund Public Libraries.” Education Week 29, no.28 (Apr 7,2010): 33.

The authors of this article are both university professors of communication, and their opinions matter. However, this article—as its title suggests—is basically a plea for funding for public libraries and had little to do with my topic. Is does, nonetheless, contain some good quotes and may be useful for that purpose.

Libraries Bridge the Digital Divide

Kranich, Nancy. “Libraries Bridge the Digital Divide.” Spectra 37, no. 7 (July 2001): 4-12.

This short article addresses the importance of the role of libraries in their communities, especially in the efforts to narrow the Digital Divide. The author re-states the fact that for many people, the public library provides their only access to the Internet. Written in 2001, it shows that the importance of public libraries in providing Internet access has been long-recognized.

Interestingly, the author also emphasizes the importance of libraries for “content, training, and expertise crucial to ensuring widespread public participation in our information society” (12) at a time when the nation’s main emphasis seemed to be getting workstations into libraries.