Feature Article
Gates Foundation Interns Bridge the 'Digital Divide
By Diane J. Squire
ALBERTA DAVIS COMER RECALLS A YOUNG LIFE SO POOR THAT SHE DIDN'T KNOW BROKEN WINDOWS COULD BE REPLACED WITH GLASS RATHER THAN BOARDS.
Part Choctaw, part Cherokee, Comer grew up in eastern Oklahoma with no access to a public or school library. It was the bookmobile that periodically visited her small town which propelled her into a career in libraries and ultimately changed her life.
Comer is one of six SLIS students chosen by the Seattle-based Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to assist public libraries in bringing technology to underprivileged patrons in Indiana. She understands first hand the foundation's mission of bridging the so-called "digital divide" - the gap between those who have access to the power of technology and the Internet and those who don't.
"I know what it is like to be left behind one's peers because of unavailable resources, and I would like to help bridge this divide," says Comer, BGS '97, who was named a Chancellor's Scholar as an undergraduate. "I hope to learn more about computers and to learn more about how to teach people to use and be at ease with computer technology."
The Gates Foundation's Library Programis a five-year, $200 million commitment to libraries in low-income communities in the United States and Canada. Started in 1997, the program has made grants to 5,800 libraries, installed more than 25,000 PCs, and trained 7,000 librarians. It is anticipated that by the end of 2003, 10,000 libraries in 50 states will have benefited from the program.
The foundation plans to spend $5.8 million providing 185 public library buildings in Indiana with computer hardware, software, and training. These libraries are in communities where 10 percent or more of the population lives in poverty (statistics based on 1990 U.S. Census). Installation and training across Indiana will be scheduled over the 2001-2002 school year and provided by the six SLIS students, who will serve as Gates Foundation interns.
An additional 201 buildings, in communities where less than 10 percent of the population lives in poverty, will be entitled to take advantage of free software and training by purchasing computers through funding provided by the Indiana State Library.
Under the Gates internship grant terms, SLIS students are actually hired by Indiana University. Gates Foundation grant funding to SLIS totals $165,285.
During the year interns will work 20 hours per week; earn academic credit; receive full fee remission for classes taken Summer and Fall 2001 and Spring 2002; and travel all over the state to install publicly accessible equipment and train librarians who will in turn help their patrons in its use. Interns for the Gates project are located in central Indiana at Bloomington and Indianapolis, as well as at Fort Wayne and Evansville.
In late June, the interns flew to Seattle to participate in three days of intensive hardware and software installation training by the Gates Foundation. Interns selected from Ohio trained alongside the Indiana crew.
"I did not have much experience with computers before the internship," says Pamela Anderson, an MLS candidate in SLIS. "However, the training was excellent. I was able to retain much of what I learned there and have already been able to apply it. Probably the most exciting part for me was the hardware training. I learned how to take the computer apart and put it back together again. It was very empowering."
She continues, "I also learned how to set up user profiles and set up securities and policies. Now I understand how computers, printers, and content servers are networked. The most important thing I learned was how to troubleshoot problems. I have already had the opportunity to use this in the field, and it has been invaluable."
SLIS Professor Danny Callison, the faculty advisor to the six interns during the Gates internship period, says that although the Gates project is not intended to make information technology specialists out of all citizens, "the basic skills and awareness of access to information electronically is as foundational today as how to use a phone or the mail in order to be a wise consumer."
"Wise use of the Internet can lead to a more level playing field for obtaining loans or financing a car or home, service in community events, expanding educational options, learning family heritage, or understanding health and legal issues," he says. "Public librarians are potential leaders in information education and cultural development in any community, from the small rural to the isolated poor sections of large metro areas. When public librarians are placed in these environments, local citizens have access to a professional who will help to guide them to resources and skills that improve local literacy and employment options."
Alberta Comer agrees. She plans to work in a local library after graduation from SLIS and eventually to move with her husband to the Southwest to volunteer on a Native American Reservation.
"When I read the goals of the Gates Foundation I had one of those moments I have heard described as an 'ah ha' moment," she says, "You know, one of those moments captured in a cartoon picture with the light bulb clicking on over the person's head. That is what it felt like. The foundation's goals are ones that really captured my imagination."
See also:
Feature Article: Gates Foundation Interns
Posted December 14, 2001