[October 21, 2009] EDITORIAL: Expanded broadband access helps make vital information for democracy available to all Americans Tweet Oct 21, 2009 (Fort Worth Star-Telegram - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Shhh! Librarians are raising their voices when it comes to giving Americans broad access to information sources on the Internet. This month, the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy recommended public-private support for libraries as vital "centers for information, training and civic dialogue." On Oct. 8, the Texas State Library and Archives Commission convened a summit on improving online access for library patrons. Texas and six other states are involved in a pilot project funded by the Gates Foundation to build better Internet connections in public libraries. With a better idea of their needs, the states can apply for Gates grants to install faster Internet connections. In an increasingly digital world, libraries are where students do online research for homework and adults apply for jobs, get answers from government agencies, search health information, take distance-learning courses and learn English -- and more. More than 70 percent of U.S library computer users say that's their primary access to technology, according to the Gates Foundation. "Broadband Internet at the library is an open door to opportunity, equity and hope," the foundation says. More than 70 percent of Texas libraries provide the only free public Internet access in their communities, the Texas State Library and Archives Commission reports. And 57 percent of Texas libraries say their Internet connections are so slow they don't meet users' needs or meet them only some of the time. That means pages that don't load, unavailable documents, lack of access to streaming video and other setbacks. The Knight Commission warned against a widening divide between technology haves and have-nots. The commission proposed innovations like using federal technology funds for mobile teaching labs to take digital literacy instruction into neighborhoods. In September, the Texas Department of Agriculture and a group called Connected Nation launched a Web site to collect information about Texans' computer usage to map where the state has easy high-speed Internet and where residents are underserved. "Broadband is an essential service of the 21st century. When all Texans have access to broadband service it will allow a farmer in West Texas to be on the same playing field as a business executive on Wall Street," Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples said in announcing the effort. "Besides business development, broadband and high-speed Internet will improve healthcare and education in our great state." At www.connectedtx.org, Texans can take a quick survey on how they use the Internet, where they get online and what prevents them from connecting. The Knight Commission said presidents such as Dwight Eisenhower and Abraham Lincoln understood the need to connect the nation with the latest technology. In Lincoln's day, it was the transcontinental railroad; in Eisenhower's, the interstate highway system. "In the area of communications today, there is no greater role for public bodies, whether White House, Congress, or state and local legislatures, than to invest in the creation of universal broadband access for all Americans," the commission said. "Enabling the building of a national, digital broadband infrastructure and ensuring universal access is a great and proper role for government." This year, cities including Fort Worth considered library cuts to help balance budgets. But libraries aren't luxuries; they're essential to the free flow of information in our democracy. Looking for comments? To see more of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dfw.com. Copyright (c) 2009, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]