Providing digital
opportunities through
public libraries: the
Canadian example
Carol A. Erickson
Access to information is an age-old problem
that has taken on a new urgency with the
emergence of the Internet as a fundamental
tool for learning and commerce.
Communities without a foundation of
computer literacy and Internet access are in
danger of being left further and further behind
as the global marketplace gains strength. Such
communities are most often found in
underprivileged or remote areas where the
struggle for everyday existence far outweighs
the communities' abilities to focus on
instituting advanced technologies and
realizing their potential benefits. And as the
role of public libraries has evolved in the
computer age,libraries in low-income
communities are serving an increasingly more
important role as their patrons' lifeline to the
Internet.
In 1998,the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation (www.gatesfoundation.org)
implemented the Canadian Partnership
Program to assist public libraries serving
Canada's low-income communities. The
program was developed from lessons the
foundation learned while implementing
similar grants in the USA and fulfills the
foundation's mission of working with public
libraries to bring free access to computers,the
Internet,and digital information to patrons in
low-income communities and those who
otherwise could not afford to purchase
computers or pay for monthly Internet fees at
home.
The foundation has granted US$18.2
million (CAN$26.4 million) to 1,466 libraries
in 13 Canadian provinces and territories.
Over 4,000 computers, 27 training labs, and
16 laptop training labs have been awarded as
part of the Canadian Partnership Program.
Foundation staff worked with a committee of
Canadian public library leaders in May 1998
to determine the strategy and methodology
for undertaking a grant program in Canada.
Gates staff members spent approximately six
months working with the committee and
representatives from the governmental agency
Statistics Canada (http://www.statcom.ca) to
determine library eligibility and how best to
implement the Canadian Partnership
Program. Of particular interest to the
foundation was the area north of the 60th
Parallel,a remote and relatively undeveloped
part of the country that seemed a perfect
location to help lower-income communities
The author
Carol A. Erickson is International Library Programs
Manager for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle,
Washington, USA and the former Director of the
International Relations Office at the American Library
Association
Keywords
Libraries, Publiclibraries, Information technology,
Canada, Literacy
Abstract
This article describes the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation's work in providing grants to publiclibraries
in low-income communities above the 60th parallel in
Canada. Through its Canadian Partnership program, the
foundation granted $18.2 million to 1,466 libraries
throughout the country, funding the purchase of over
4,000 computers, 27 training labs, and 16 laptop training
labs. The area described in the article includes some of
Canada's most remote regions and required unique
efforts to bring Internet access and information
technology to low-income communities in the territories
of the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. The
computers helped many residents with literacy skills,
increased job opportunities, and provided a host of other
advantages. The foundation's experience proved that the
long-range benefits to communities are only truly seen
when such initiatives are community-driven.
Electronic access
The research register for this journal is available at
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregisters
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is
available at
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/0307-4803.htm
Feature article
141
New Library World
Volume 103
.
Number 1175/1176
.
2002
.
pp. 141±149
# MCB UP Limited
.
ISSN 0307-4803
DOI 10.1108/03074800210428551