Transcripts For CSPAN2 Key Capitol Hill Hearings 20140614

This is true because of the incredible success the Broadband Program has had across the country here and at the Brooklyn Library amazing things. Making Great Strides and addressing the digital skill divide. Many of us are wondering where the additional funding is going to come from . I should take a moment on the Digital Literacy spectrum to talk about the room we are sitting. This is a digital commons. It provides us through an increasingly sophisticated set of tools, faster connectivity. It cost around 34 million and how can we build more because we know the need is there. I am hoping the panel will talk about this. It is my pleasure to introduce the director of Library Services. Susan has done so much in her tenure to elevate libraries in the consciousness and we owe her gratitude and will be sorry to see her go. Susan, please, thank you. [ applause ] i would ask our gentlemen, the two toms if you dont mind joining me on the stage. Good morning, everyone. Well it is so wonderful to be here. I am okay. I am all right. I have to talk quite a bit and i will be drinking in between. It is just water. So first of all, welcome, everyone. This event is being recorded and will be made available to the public. So everybody keep that in mind as we have our exciting dialo e dialogue. It is my pleasure to con vene the institute hearing on libraries and broadband. And we are having this event during library week. I want to thank the washington, d. C. Public library. We could not have a better arena for the event. Just take a look over there. This building just opened up. This is what it is all about. The issue we are discussing today is of great importance to the millions of americans who use broadband at the nations 1700 Public Libraries as well as those who use broadband as home to Access Library resources. Every day children, teens and adults use broadband at their local library to further their education, find workforce and health information, seek Digital Literacy training, and much more. I am proud to be joined by members of the National Museum and Library Service board and they are with me here. Charles benson, christy of ohio and carl of maryland and winston tab from maryland. We are lucky to have another board member in the audience who comes from the museum house. And where see museum faces out there. We are honored to have the ark ist of the United States and we are excited to have the past president of the Library Association here today. Thank you for being with us. This is the first time we are used our authority to advi vise congress on library issues. This was from the Library Services act that incorporated into the imls law. Responsibilities that were held by the National Commission on library and information science. We chose this moment because it is full of potential. We are encouraged that tom wheeler, the federal communication chairman, is working to modernize the erate. And considering the analysis of fcc data that imls just released yesterday, this moment is perhaps of even greater importance than any of us realized. Our Analysis Shows 15, 551 libraries used the discount provided by the erate. This number varies from year to year about we found the annual participate rate was 67 of the libraries in the United States. Erate was created 17 years ago when the first overhaul of the communication act was passed in 96. This was the same year the museum act was enacted and created imls. We moved on to the technology act. And through that imls supports initiati initiatives help School Libraries serve the public. We help diverse people. To individuals with disabilities, limited functional literacy or informational skills and from its creation, imls recognized the importance of a connected society and a leadership role as a hub for the world. We are delivering broadbrand services and the needs of library pofessionals are meeting. I would like to know the National Broadband plan recommended affordable action to one giga pit per second to anchor institutions including library. A very good goal. The fcc, the president s own connect Ed Initiative and the broadband opportunities demonstrate a commitment and sense of urgency around highspeed internet. Public access to technology and content is dependent on my speed internet. We know there are people that havent adopted it at home and 19 million dont have access at all. This has a dramatic impact on the catapacapacity of public lis to leave those left out of the benefits. And the economic recession is bearing this out as the millions of americans went to libraries, our libraries continued their established role as community anchors. We know americas job seekers headed to their trusted institutions, often relying on the internets connection to sharpen their skills or look for jobs. To realistically survive in society you need the internet. There is no doubt they deliver information the communities need. Imls has a unique advantage point. We are here to better under how to best serve the public interest. We are not here to support one path forward but instead provide an opportunity for a public hearing to examine a variety of point of view. We will examine the broad Public Benefits of library broadband, analy analyze data and hear about solutions that will bring highspeed access to libraries. We will now begin with a wonderful welcome by fcc chairman tom wheeler. It gives me pleasure to introduce Thomas Wheeler who has taken time to start it off. Chairman wheeler has been involved with nes networks and experiences. He is an advocate and business man. He helped start multiple Companies Offering innovative cable, wireless and video communication. Chairman wheeler has made it clear he understands the importance of libraries. With this background on telecommunication. We are lucky too him here with us. Please welcome, tom wheeler. [ applause ] thank you very much, susan and to the members of the board, nice to see you here. This is something very important. And congrats to the institute of library and Museum Services for convening and having this idea to help get this message out. Susan and everybody there, i am privileged to share the podium with tom power from the whitehouse who has been a leading pusher, advocate, for the kinds of changes that we have to be making to mare sure we are bringing the Erate Program into the 21st century. I am joined by a couple colleagues who are volved in this. Jonathan chambers and Daniel Alverez and when you look at finger prints on what the fcc is doing in terms of erate reform you will find john and dans finger prints all over it. But there are two other important people in this audience and i think their presence here today creates a construct for how we can discuss things. Chairman reed hunt, i have the august responsibility of following in reeds foot steps as chairman of the fcc. And while there are many names that get attached to the Erate Program, the present at the creation seminole name associated with that is reed hunt. There would be no Erate Program without read hunt and that is a factual statement. And the person with more goodies in his house on pennsylvania avena avenue than any place other else. I have been probe privileged to hang around david. He is a library folks and what he has done at the National Archive is to open up the National Archives and so much of that concept of opening up means digitalization. The movie was fabulous but they got the telegraph scene wrong in the lincoln movie. He wrote them out and thank god he did and they are saved at the National Archives. When you hold in your white gloved hand the piece of paper that lincoln wrote on there is one degree of separation that you feel from lincoln. And that is a privilege a few researchers like i was privileged to have get. But what david has done is to digitize all of those documents. Not only the telegrams thought the other Great Holdings of the National Archives so there is one click between someone who wants to explore and lincoln. It used to be when i started by Research Online on lincolns telegraph susan is saying we know that. Get this canister and he would sit down and you would go through each microfilm picture one by one and now thanks to david you can click and it is there. So because of people like david digitized the product, the information, and because people like reed hunt made that digitized information available, that is why the work that we are talking about here today in terms of the importance of libraries is so incredible and key to what gets done. As we are seeing in this room, we are moving from stacks of books to online centers. The library has always been the onramp to the world of information and ideas. And now that onramp is a giga bet. Libraries are playing more and more important roles in the community. As was pointed out earlier, it is where americans without computers go to get online. It is where students after school go to get online. And one of the things the everyone always thinks Andrew Carnegie, steel. Andrew carnegie was first a network guy. He started as a telegraph operator for the pennsylvania railroad. As a matter of fact, he was brought here during the civil war and was responsible for stringing the telegraph line that went out toward manassas. He did not make it before the battle. What we know and what Abraham Lincoln knew about what went on was as a result of Andrew Carnegies work. It is appropriate that we are talking about libraries caught, about his contribution in making libraries what they were in the 19th century, and we come back to networks. That is why modernization is so important. The program that we have is called the schools and libraries program. We need to also start calling it the libraries and Schools Program to make sure that we recognize and emphasize the important contribution of each of those institutions. What are we doing . We are moving from supporting 20thcentury technology to 21st century highspeed Broadband Technology. It is a reallocation of resources, reallocations of resources are never easy and never pleasant, but they are essential if we are to keep pushing forward. We are moving to broadband. It is not just the external connection but how you get using wifi to the individual. Where bringing the application into the administrative process as well by using the same kind of broadband tools. Were focusing on fiscal responsibility. The key is not just more money, although it is if more money is warranted we will deal with it, but the key is money well spent by encouraging longer support time frames so that you can have longer contracts with lower rates and by establishing a system of reference pricing so that people know what is a fair price is we dont expect librarians to the Telecom Experts and to be able to go up there and handle with telecom companies. How do we help in that regard. Them limited what brought. Releasing our plan for 2015. Theres an incredible distinguished list of participants the of wind up today. Andrew over a century. We stand on the president s of being able to have the same kind of seminal him back on the flow of affirmation and ideas in the 21st. As for the work that you are doing is so important. The reform and modernization for the program is essential and that is why todays hearing, the kinds of things that he will explore are so helpful to those of those who are trying to work on just how we seize on this incredible moment of historic significance. Thank you for all of your doing. [applause] thank you so much. I was inspiring. Just to get the record straight. Were excited to have chris coming this be sent from the gate foundation, and i have to say when i talk about Andrew Carnegie when i speak, we also characterized bill and Melinda Gates as our 21st century. At the white house as deputy chief Technology Officer for telecommunications. Managerial and policy support for a wide range of Agency Activities including internet policymaking, spectrum and representative recovery act Grant Program and was one of the first individuals to encourage us to have this hearing and make it happen. Welcome. [applause] thank you. Good morning. Thank you for having this hearing. It is a thrill to show share the day as with chairman willard one of my favorite policy persons. He is doing such a great job. Second favorite. I do work in the white house. You never know who is watching. So we are really trying to help your. The chairman has identified some of the ways forward, but we really recognize that the real work happens a local level. My main message of this morning is to thank you for the work the you do. For some of us this is personal. My mother was an Elementary School teacher and librarian. When she retired the local newspaper came and did an article about her. One thing that has changed his parents seem to have lost some focus on the idea that kids need to come to school prepared to learn. School is not just the island where education can happen and when they leave education stops. All community has to be focused. That is why the work of the libraries is so important. I dont have to tell you that. We learned this the, finding that the strongest applications or the ones that have the support of the community. The ones where we saw the Community Coming together to support the applications were the ones that have the best chance of succeeding. We are proud of the work done. If you get a chance shake her hand. She and the team did such a great job. With the libraries in particular connecting over 1300 libraries greatly increasing bandwidth said meet the increasing demands of their patrons. Over 2,000 Library Locations across the country. I am pleased to announce that today in cia will be releasing three case studies published by an independent contractor on the positive improvements and effects that the program is having. As you will see, you can go on the website to pull this down. In delaware 420 previously Unemployed People receive job offers fast after using the new job centers at four Public Libraries. In michigan new Public Computer Center facilities are estimated to have save users more than 160,000 hours per year. In texas Public Computer Centers including over 120 Library Locations have provided nearly 850,000 training hours to support this to my enabling people to search for jobs and housing, connect with families and other countries and other important uses that were referred to. We will be putting that out today. We know there is more to be done and the needs of the librarys are read aces to statistics that 50 percent of libraries report they are the only source of Free Internet in their communities. People out in the car trying to connect. At you can look at that has kind of discouraging. You know, id try to be encouraged because we are stimulating demand. We have children and adults which is a good sign. As you will hear today, millions of americans are using the internet to study for degrees or certificates cannot apply for jobs, develop a professional skills and participate in civic affairs. Libraries are truly centers of Lifelong Learning and are available to all regardless of age, income, or disability. For folks who do not have computers at home they are essential, but even for folks who do have computers of home, if you are trying to study or do certain tasks the whole environment may not always be the best place to do it. The librarians are good at keeping things on the cutie and quiet. Thank you for maintaining the stability. [laughter] i started by telling you about my mother, so i will finish by telling you about her mother, my grandmother. She was a teacher and head mistress and then she retired and got bored. Went back to teaching, retired again, became a tutor and give her last lesson on her 90th birthday. Decided that that was enough. She never took a dime for triggering. She just wanted to teach. A few weeks ago i was visiting with a cousin of mine. One thing and remember was people would come to your grandmothers house. She had books all over the place a child was with the visitors. The child would always leave with the present, and the present was always a book. My grandmother would presented in a way, some kids christmastime, birthdays, they get a book, they are not so thrilled. My grandmother had a way of doing it so that the child ought to have gone to disneyland. She had this enthusiasm. She had a lot of bucks. She gave them away. She loved sharing them with kids because she knew what my mom observed. We need to all be in it together. Education is at the home, at the library. So the chairman and i all started this. We will keep doing what we can, but we are depending upon you. We know how hard youre working to make things happen at the local level. We will support you because we know it takes all of us make this a success. Thank you for having me, and every day. Thank you. [applause] okay. Thank you, gentlemen. That was a great way to start. I will ask our panel to join me here on the podium. A first of all, i would like to say thank you very much. We are honored. Are moving to the Panel Discussion portion of our program. This hearing is being live cast, and viewers are encouraged to submit questions via twitter we have cards or paper are in your chair. After each Panel Presentation our Board Members have questions there will be opposing. We love a chance for members of the audience and virtual audience to pose questions. Here we go with our panel number one. We are looking at the vision. We will explore innovative practices and partnerships. Our first speaker will be the Senior Program officer at the bill and Melinda Gates foundation. Hoping to have leon mac, director of el paso Public Library. Unfortunately she had a family emergency and was not able to the year. We are excited to have clarence anthony, executive director of the National League of cities. We will start out with her. Well, thank you, director. The National Museum, Library Services for holding this hearing. I appreciate the opportunity to talk about the experience that the bill and ellen Gates Foundation has had with in china access to technology through Public Libraries and our vision of our libraries can drive personal and Community Development. Today the foundation is composed of many programs and initiatives. Helping farmers in africa strengthen their crops, improving the educational system in the United States. But it all started in 1997 with the Gates Foundation. Back then all the about 25 percent of Public Libraries offered Public Access to the internet, and many inside the Library Community or not sure that this was a Service Libraries needed to offer. Bill, melinda, and bill gates senior believe very strongly that access was very essential to allow people to live healthy, Productive Lives and they felt the Public Libraries were uniquely situated and the best places to provide such services. For a variety of reasons they felt that primarily because Public Libraries are free and open to the public they have support within the community and most importantly knowledgeable staff who died people through learning and access to information piper. In 1997 the Foundation Set an ambitious goal. If you can reach a Public Library you can reach the internet. By 2004 that goal was met. After investing 240 million the u. S. Library program in conjunction with partners of the federal, state, and local level held to connect 99 percent of all u. S. Libraries to the internet. I still surged to the state to find out where that one percenters. Our continued funding supporting Public Libraries in the u. S. Reflects the belief that investments in Public Libraries benefit the community at large by ensuring that all people continued have the opportunity lead Productive Lives. While the original vision of the foundation has been realized and of people have access to technology, it is time to turn our attention to a new vision insuring people have access to all the opportunities that technology has to offer and have the opportunity defied does not increase. The foundation believes that Public Libraries are key components in meeting this vision but face challenges in doing so. According to the 20112012 study public computer and wifi use increased in the Previous Year had more than 60 percent of Public Libraries, but it also found that more than 65 percent of libraries report did do not have enough Public Computers to meet the demand and 41 report their Internet Connection speeds are insufficient. Meanwhile Public Libraries are dealing with a decrease or inadequate budgets. Twentythree states reported cuts in state funding for libraries in 2012, and more than 40 percent reported decreased Public Libraries support for three years in a row. Clearly libraries have stepped in to address this divide and people are looking to libraries to do just that, however they do not have adequate resources to meet these expanding needs. Despite these continuing challenges libraries have continued to move forward in addressing Community Development , whether Economic Development, education, civic engagement, or improving health and wellness, they do this the real variety of services such as helping people perez amaze and apply for jobs, equipping them with the general literacy skills, showing them how to take action for egovernment services were helping them find information. As libraries have stepped in to this rule peoples needs and expectations have continued to grow. The opportunities evil and libraries continue to close that opportunity to fight with addressing the needs of the immigrant communities, expanding learning a pitch and it is for adults in the informal or formal ways or supporting students through the provision of additional electronic resources, but to be in a position to accomplish this mission Public Libraries months of the band with to provide such services. Unfortunately as we have heard this is not always the case and continues to be a challenge in many communities even after substantial and ongoing investment from local, state and federal programs to address getting robust connectivity to every library. The four libraries can fully explored these services and a half to know their connectivity infrastructure is sufficient without negatively impacting the axis people depend on. As Online Services evolved to include more video or other Interactive Media Public Libraries have struggled to provide the quality of service needed by their community. Libraries often face this demand it does not easily scale and offers little to no quality of service guarantees. Essentially there up riding with one arm tied behind their back. Broadband connectivity is the underlying bedrock for building a full suite of services for community and personal development with their robust and reliable broadband connection to libraries and communities can move into more areas of explanation. As the foundation this this, continued investments, we hope to see more partners realize the power of the Public Library to assist personal and Community Development. The Foundation Hopes supporters grow because we have seen firsthand from investments and Public Libraries that key organizations for growing a paternity at the personal and community level. Thank you for this opportunity to share these comments. Thank you. [applause] now we are ready. So excited that he could share this time with us. Everyone in this room today as a story or reason why you are here and are committed. Mine began when i was on migrant kid in florida. We were placed in florida we grew up in a community it did not have a library, did not have a stationary lover. So as and eight, nine yearold kid angeles to make. When that library drove up to the park i could either stay on the playground or i could go into that bubble library for the two hours that was there. Most often the playground one. I will tell you this eventually i found my way into a library. In 15 years later i ran for Public Office in the city and community in which i grew, and i had to deal with the number of missions, crime, drugs, housing. I knew but when i came back to my community from grants cool one of the things i was going to abdicate and fight for was to get a standing library in our community. I spoke to legislators, the county commission for five years street using the same speech. In that fifth year the chair of the state legislative Committee Staffer was a great stafford pulled of the exact speech and read my speech. Well, we got it. Three years after that i was very biased and honored, a very tender age of that time that the named library. It is important. That building, that mobile library, to read about the places i could travel, the things that i could do as a migrant kid. Times have changed, but libraries are still important, and they are still significant. The one factor that has not changed is the fact that the equalizer in america is education. The equalizer in america is education. The ability to connect to the internet and have computers in homes as well as in our library, the National League of cities understands that. Our political leaders nationally have made a commitment to education and advocate for legislation that will expand the Erate Program funding and make sure that every american will have the ability to live the American Dream and have that access. We have also partnered with the urban Library Council to assist in making sure any reform that the are developed in the program really provides the financial commitment that we did in 1996, the telecommunication act. The money we committed is not enough in 2014 to be able to deal with the issues that we have to deal with to deliver digital connectivity to americans, especially those that are similarly most often left behind. The chairman quoted Andrew Carnegie, and i will as well. A library out ranks in the other one thing a community can do to benefit its people. It is never failing spring in the desert. Digital literacy is no longer a choice of american citizens. To highspeed internet is essential for americans to do anything as we have heard from finding work, gaining access to Health Coverage and most of all we must recognize this is important that and we will bridge the real economic and Educational Opportunities in america people have have access to the internet and computers. It is also important to note that in the minority communities that is where it is hurting most for city leaders we recognize that the Minority Community and access to education is important. Access to internet is important. We are feeling. I dont make speeches just to make briefings and comments. I am calling and asking for action to deal with these big issues. We know the importance of the program, and we like to say the city is of the places where action occur. I will not criticize washington, but mayors, City Council Members , towns and villages all over america are making things happen. We want to partner with you to make sure things happen. As i close i want to say that a call to action is needed around this issue. In elsie is committed to working with the fcc, the you will see, congress, the white house, imls. We are committed to working with everybody to make sure that we address this issue. We know that talk is easy but action is more important. When know that many families only ci iphones and ipads and computers in libraries such as this. We recognize that this is the place that people come and travel around the world because they can read about places. Would state the time to get the erate modernization process right. With the creative and bold and our thinking to make sure our libraries have the Technology Infrastructure that they need to support a strong local community that results in a Strong National economies. My kids will be embarrassed as i say this, but as drake, the singer said, i started from the bottom, now im here. And it is because of libraries. Thank you. [applause] thank you very much. That was terrific. We have a couple of questions. If we have anything coming in on twitter pass them off to me. Some quick thoughts, what do you think Community Leaders can do to promote a Digital Literacy. So i would not have a problem but i do not know that all of our mares are at the place where mr. Antonias. Can what can your city leaders due to drive this message home . I think from the library perspective one of the first things they can do is make sure the city leaders get inside the library. Often times it has been awhile since some of the leaders have been in the library to see the changes that have happened and understand the demand. If you have connectivity at home it is hard to understand what a huge role and place in your daily life until it is taken away or missing. For people who do not have that, understanding what that means for them is an important thing. Living leaders see it and articulating what it is is important. I agree as a former mayor of you really do have a lot of issues. I would encourage, as you are doing, for the librarians and Library Communities to become stronger advocates. You have to and make sure that public leaders know that we recognize it is important. If you dont have an educated population, recruitment of companies, libraries are essential part of all of that connected the, but you must tell your story of why it is important before it gets lost in the regular infrastructure, including pipes, water, sewer. If we cannot see those things sometimes the library is invisible. We need to make it more visible. That is a great comment. As i say, libraries are sadly never in the front of anyones mind. When you bring as up as a service or option everyone is like, why didnt i think of it. We are never at the top. We have to get there. Did you have a question . Has a a librarian and a thriving city you have to articulate that. Why is it important and cities in particular was so much going on to provide the Public Access. As one of the first recipients you are continuing your commitment to broadband and technology access. I talked earlier. The reason why it is important ride now as it is in port, competitive and cities are competing against each other to recruit younger folks into the community. There will not be the Great American city that they would like to be. Cities right now are celebrating their ability to bring broadband and internet and all kinds of access. They show that as a valuable resource to recruit companies. They dont show the part where there is no population left behind. The reason why cities are getting in this space and identifying it as an important part of their communities is it is about tax bases, jobs, improving the lives of people who live in those communities. Right now i dont think that we as americans have reached into the depths of where we need to to bring everyone out and have access. My dream is to have it 100 percent enter not wide broadband city. That means everyone would have access. I challenge the Broadband Community to try to find a pilot city that we can actually make. It i will tell the mayor that he said that. [inaudible] a quick question for you. Not to put you on the spot, but here you go. What would it take to get more funders to support libraries and Digital Literacy . Well, you dont have to convince us. We are continuing. If people could see in 1997 are installed computers. The demand is the same now as it was then. The opportunities and skills that people need have changed. To convince more people to come along and it goes back to the point tying it to those desires. If you want to understand Economic Development whether and the city level, a private foundation, tying it to an educational goals, whatever their reigns, libraries are already doing that work. They are not just doing it, there are doing it while. From that point of view it goes back to telling our story very effectively and in a compelling manner. Again, as people talk about that personal relations with they often have, growing batman worked. That was a terrific dancer. Libraries are doing so many Different Things all over the country. We need to package of those services to meet the priorities of founders. A good example is a Great Partnership Digital Media labs. Refunded 24 all over the country it is great for our teens, our target audience. We are giving those young people skills to get jobs. Think about all of the things that we do and package it to meet the needs of the founder. I want to have a round of applause. Okay. Panel to is on the way out. Again, the hearing is being live cast and viewers are encouraged to ask questions. This is our panel. They will explore what we know about broadband if connections d services and the metrics would need to assess, whether sufficient connectivity is in place, whether the metrics can be used to assure success. Our first speaker is with the american Library Association, director of the network for 0i teepee. Theyre is a lot of the alphabet soup today, but we can have a little dictionary that we attach to the live cast. The Research Director for the Nations Institute of the university of arizona as well as Research Director of the harvard project on American Indian Economic Development and it finally someone wellknown tower Library Community wearing many different hats, currently independent communications and technology consultant. Folks, talk a little bit and we will have a chance to ask questions. Thank you, susan. Two of the Board Members and staff for bringing us together. It is an honor to it shares the stage this morning with so many distinguished speakers. The oldest and largest Library Association and the world. And ala0i t p with National Policies that ensure access to electronic resources as a means of upholding the publics right to a free and open information society. Happy National Library week. This morning al draw on more than 20 years of research and the opportunity for all study, office for research and statistics and imls data. I would like to thank all of these researchers and funders for their many contributions. Only 20 of libraries reported speeds greater than 1. 5 megabits per second. In 2012 we had nearly flipped the statistics. At the other end of the spectrum however fewer than 10 of our libraries reported speeds of 100 megabits per second or faster. Preliminary findings on this years years survey in 2014 show only a few Percentage Points at this highend and still roughly 10 of our burr and small libraries are still at 1. 5 megabits per second. About half of our libraries have half the bandwidth that we enjoy at home and at the same time they have an average of 10 computers in our burr libraries and 41 and city libraries and far more than that in libraries Like Washington d. C. Or new york or l. A. Or chicago. We see nearly ubiquitous free public wifi and an exploding number of devices. Im sure anybody here and now i have my laptop mice marked on my ipad. We see this in our libraries as well. We are also seeing an increase in downloadable streaming and Interactive Digital collections including things like from the National Archives of course ranging from ebooks to instructional videos and videoconferencing in states like maine where people are connectinconnectin g with legal advice and job interviews and connecting with overseas military families. In fact even as speeds improve their bandwidth isnt adequate. As chris mentioned a significant majority of libraries actually 66 of our libraries told us that they need more bandwidth to meet their Library Needs today. This is again dated that will be released later on this year. 88 of state Library Agencies report a majority of their libraries need and with upgrades this year and next so its really important for libraries. So we are not standing still but too many libraries are falling behind right now. This need for speed is driven by modern Library Services as libraries have are the one place for all. Twothirds leverage over there the only provider free access to computers and internet. And when youre libraries posted more than 341 million computer uses which does not include the wireless access. Libraries leverage Internet Access to empower Library Users and support education employment and entrepreneurship predicting john will talk a little more about public use so i will simply add a few examples from the opportunity for all city. And when he roughly 30 Million People hes a libraries Internet Access for employment or career purposes. About 32. 5 million Years Library technology to achieve educational goals including taking on line classes completing schoolwork or researching college programs. 26 Million People use Library Connections to access Government Information Services and officials. Underlying many these uses is the need for many people to increase their Digital Literacy skills. Nearly all ivories provide formal or informal assistance learning everything from setting up an email address to uploading job applications to using new Ebook Readers and tablets also called tech petting zoos. So we have a lot of data to understand Library Technology landscape that we also have gaps. We still dont know the number of people that are using library wifi for instance at the state or national level. We are just beginning to fill that gap or the quality of a access the experience. We are starting to do bandwidth test so we will have a better grasp on this later on this year. We also lacked National Information on Library Resources including time spent on line and what types of Library Resources but perhaps most glaringly today we have a wealth of data that remains largely locked away from us. Im thrilled that i am im ls has drilled down into this rich vein but we need publicly available and the allah continues to call for more data transparency including block for of the erate information. In closing though i would like to say that data is useful as a rear view mirror but not a crystal ball. In a focus group five years ago, five years ago in Indiana Library and put it this way. At one time we would have said the t. 19 was just the world that it changes too fast. This was in the course of two years. We went from one to one, 21 222321. Enforcement more than half of libraries have not caught up with her. We hear from todays gigabit libraries that bandwidth can be a Library Service that enables robust simultaneous use of Recording Studios and 3d modeling counts. New Community Partnerships ann working space is like here at d. C. Public. Telehealth access to Electronic Health records and global connections. Bandwidth should not limit what is possible through our libraries. You need to bring more gigabit to libraries and our communities. Thank you very much. [applause] laura is a lot taller than i am. Director hildreth distinguished members of the panel and also chairman and wheeler and mr. Power thank you for convening this panel and also for your opening remarks. As susan told you my name is Marion Jorgensen and then researched our draft the nations visited at the university of arizona and also the harvard project on american india Economic Development. At the harvard project in native nations visited i were to understand the conditions that lead to better economic and wellbeing outcomes or american unions and alaska natives living in their homelands. These are critical questions. Recent research by harvard project affiliated economist randall a key and Jonathan Taylor reminds us that even in 2010 percapita income for American Indians living on reservations remained less than half of the u. S. Average. They are below the percapita income of hispanics africanamericans and asianamericans via very wide margin. There are over 560 recognized American Indian alaskan natives in the United States, more than 300 in the lower 48 states and more than 200 alaska. Its vital for the many People Living in these communities would like to return to these communiticommuniti s and even for the many nonnative United States citizens who live near American Indian alaskan native lands. It is with this background that i come to my work with the association of tribal archives libraries and museums also known as a tom. Its a nonprofit native Led Organization founded in 2010 with support from ml iso thank you very much for that that provides training and services to the nations 519 tribal archives libraries and museums. My work has largely involved survey and statistical data analysis. Most recently i partnered with staff and board member tracy morris who is an expert in tribal Digital Media to conduct a study which we have called Digital Inclusion in Indian Country the role of tribal libraries. The findings from the study will be released in several weeks but i would like to share six preliminary findings as i believe they are important to the discussion today and because they ultimately speak to the possibility for change life outcomes for citizens of American Indian and alaska native nations. First tribal libraries are less able to offer Internet Access than our nonnative Public Libraries. Only 80 of tribal libraries offer Internet Access as compared to between 95 to 99 depending on the statistics you refer to a nontribal Public Libraries. Additionally nearly 40 of tribal libraries acquisition more Access Computers is extremely important to the highest rating they could give it. Second tribal libraries are key points of Internet Access for reservation residents. 43 of tribal libraries that offer Public Access are the only sort of free public Internet Access in their communities and twothirds of tribal libraries are in communities were no more than 30 of homes have any Internet Access. In fact many have no access at all. Third, a significant fraction of tribal libraries with access to not have very good access and as loris pointed out thats critically important. Of 100 tribal libraries that reported speed of Internet Connection fully one third cannot offer connection speeds greater than three megabits per second which is the bare minimum for operating many web based applications that improve Human Capital and offer connections to the broader economy. Fourth, the Erate Program could make a difference but its vastly underutilized by tribal libraries. An earlier study i did in 2011 found that at most 15 of reported tribal libraries received erate discounts. By comparison data released just yesterday by imls 2000 Public Libraries have benefited from ebay. Data points have only 70 of tribal libraries have applied for erate. This leads to my fifth. Confusion over eligibility and a general lack of awareness limits tribal libraries access to erate. 20 of reporting live brace indicated they were unsure if their library was eligible and another 50 said they had never heard of the program. These findings are consistent with the fact that information about eve rate has never been disseminated specifically to the tribal Library Community. Sixth and circling back to the points i made at the outset Internet Access of tribal libraries support committee prosperity and wellbeing. Tribal libraries do not simply offer Public Access to computers and the internet. They provide training that helps translate use of the Possibilities Technology offers great half of tribal libraries report providing training and general internet and computer use. 40 provide training in how to access government information such as Social Security and medicare and income tax data. Another 40 offer training on how to find job related information. 35 offer access to healthrelated training and access to healthrelated information. The Tribal Library and from the southwest summarizes the ideas of my testimony well. He said our Tribal Committee uses the donated reference computers to access Tribal Employment applications. Social Services Services resources and college on line homework. The computers allow them to access information that will improve their lives. Knowledge not readily available to them because they dont have technology at home. Must connect to the internet via cell phone and hang around Library Library during off hours to access wifi. Or computers are busy all day from open to close. Its beautiful to see our tribal people learn in that way but its sad that we do not have more than Six Computers and they do not have them at home. Our statistics show the need for more stations for our population base and this is a shoutout to chris. He also added if you see anyone from the Gates Foundation please let them know. In conclusion i know the tribal libraries are culture bears for the nations collecting and making available key materials about language, history and material culture. At the same time tribal libraries are often the only place in native communities where tribal members can access social Services Jobs tanking and travel information and stay in touch with distant family. The ox is the tribal libraries provide makes tribal people lives peoples lives better everyday. They were once part of the past and part of the future of native nations. I commend institute of museum and Library Service for its interest in Indian Country and his support. Im hopeful that these forthcoming data point to a pathway for significantly improved Broadband Access in tribal communities through their Tribal Library systems. Thank you for your vacation to testify and i welcome any questions that you might have. [applause] we will have some questions for you later miriam. Imls is working to make sure our tribal libraries have better access. John. Thank you very much susan and have my first bank imls for inviting me to participate in todays hearing. Its wonderful to be here and see so many friends and familiar faces both on the dais and in the audience. Let me begin by saying that libraries fill two important roles in a society where more and more Business Services depend on the internet. I want to touch on them today and make the case that bandwidth and libraries are critically important to helping all americans have a chance to translate digital abundance into tools that can open doors to connectivity and im going to do it with a bunch of data points. First libraries serve a Critical Role in providing a place where people can improve their level of Digital Skills and the need to improve peoples Digital Skills is important and i think its often overlooked in todays mainstream discourse. Our Digital Culture tends to assume that once adopting elites get the latest technology than then everybody follows and immediately gets it. Yet there is ample evidence that there is wide variation in the level of Digital Skills in the general population. Recent research ive done that i will be releasing in a few weeks so you get to hear it first fines based on the 2013th survey there is significant variation in the Digital Skills even among people who have all the Digital Tools that we take for granted today. Today 80 of americans have advanced Internet Access and by that i mean they either have broadband at home or they have a smartphone. Within this group of highly wired people nearly one fifth or 18 has low levels of Digital Skills. Thats 34 million americans and low levels of Digital Skills tracks closely with low levels of on line activity particularly inconsequential areas such as looking for work are going to a government web site. For instance among those with low Digital Skills just 10 use the internet during their most recent job search and those with high levels of Digital Skills, 52 use the internet in their most recent job search. Taking another example of Digital Skills just 2 say they have ever taken a class on line and high levels of Digital Skills ,com,com ma 26 have taken a class on line, a huge gap. These differences in on line use are important because for the most part its the expectation in society that everyone is connected at home with broadband. Recent research i have done on the Comcast Internet Essentials Program which serves lowincome family with schoolaged children who get free or reduced price lunches shows this. When asked the set of new Internet Users recently signed on to the via comcast internet essentials. Respondents said their Children School expected they had Internet Access at home. 65 said their Financial Institutions expected that they have brought band at home and 53 said their Health Insurance companies expected that they have broadband at home. So there are two things going on. One, more and more seditions expect people to connectivity on line at home and at the same time Many Americans have insufficient levels of Digital Skills. This means we need to begin to look at the Digital Equity differently. Stakeholders offer Digital Skills as only affects the disconnected people on the other side of the digital divide. But as i have shown many people, about one fifth of adults with advance Online Access have low levels of Digital Skills. This means they lack Digital Readiness which i think is a term that captures the scope of the challenge we have in ensuring that all segments of society are ready for next generation Information Committee patience technology. This leads to my second for libraries. Namely that they are the vanguard that enforces Digital Readiness for the entire population. Libraries are both Access Points for those without broadband at home and information resources for people with service. We know according to the Pew Research Center that 30 of americans did not have broadband at home. Thats 2013th figure and that translates to 34 million households or 90 Million People to about half of those people are Internet Users and they just dont have highspeed service at home. This creates the need for places for Online Access where people can use the internet. Libraries clearly fill that third place to the provision of terminals for those without access and many who do have access at home. They do more as they also help people negotiate a complex and quickly changing information environment. Here are some data points from the Pew Research Center to help illuminate this. 35 of americans in 2012 said they had accessed the internet at a library for a fee for free. This is the same figure 35 we found in a survey i conducted in 2009 which showed at that time 35 of americans have used the Internet Library for free. 44 of American Adults have used a Public Library web site. 30 within the last year and 77 of americans say free access to computers and the internet is a very Important Service for libraries to provide. Americans expect more from libraries as Technology Changes in the digital age. Again according to the Pew Research Center 63 of americans over the age of 16 say they are likely to use mobile apps that libraries may provide to Access Programs and services at the library. 65 of Library Patrons say they would like to have a tech petting zoo and 60 would like to have the Digital Media lab to help them digitize personal material. In conclusion let me point out the temptation to think that we have lived through most of the internet revolution yet we have only lived through the very beginning. The advent of the internet of things raises the stakes and changes the stakes as the internets usefulness will expand in unforeseen ways. This will challenge many of us who are highly wired to keep up with the Necessary Knowledge to troubleshoot gadgets and understand new applications. That means as a society we will need to provide additional Educational Resources to learn what these new services are all about. This leads to three implications and want to leave you with. One, Digital Readiness is an social policy challenge for those interested inequity on the internet. To libraries and librarians will be on the frontlines in helping americans negotiate a world where digital applications makes the case for them to have additional bandwidth very compelling. Thank you very much. [applause] okay we have some questions for our panel. I dont know if we have any audience questions but i am so excited to hear the term Digital Readiness. We have been struggling with that term for so long. We use the term Digital Literacy and people think what does that mean . I not literate. Thats just the term of the day Digital Readiness of thank you john. Carla did you have a question . Then we are going to take you off the stage. What are some of the challenges that other space in terms of collecting better data and providing the things that you need to make the case . I think there are few challenges. One is just Library Staff time. A lot of our libraries, i think everybody feels that strain if you will but many of our libraries may only have a few people so the Data Collection piece can be tricky. Gathering some of the digital statistics also is hard. Where do you collect the data . How do you collected the data . The methodology is really important. And there was a third thing that im just linking on that just came into my head. Survey fatigue is always an issue but maybe i will let you go while i think of my third thing. Alastair with methodology and go to intentional Research Questions framed to assess outcomes from Library Access on the internet and that is not something librarians are probably wellsuited to do. So i think it recreates the need for funding for University Researchers to get in there and really be on the ground in assessing outcomes. Inevitably having the broadband plan to get questions from policymakers on what are the outcomes and i think we have to be very intentional about that. I was going to say the third thing when i think about our colleagues in the School Environment our Community Comes in and out of libraries. We have these spikes in access and we have a strong commitment to privacy and so folks come in and out and use our Library Resources in keeping track in and giving to those outcomes can be much more challenging as opposed to having a population is in the School Building every day. I think thats another challenge for being able to capture the impact of Library Service. I know our board member Charles Manson is going to pose a question for miriam but i just wanted to acknowledge that Charles Benton who is on our board and also formally on the National Commission board has been committed his entire life to Digital Access. We know hes a great champion. Hes out there all the time. We are so happy to be with us today and he has been a leader for years in this area. Charles, question . I have got a script. I was interested in your point that there is very Little Information about erate that is being shared with tribal libraries and im wondering what your thoughts are on funding ford Digital Access especially given the numerous efforts to support native American Library institutions starting with the many resolutions and the First White House conference and services that were adopted and incorporated to ls ta let alone the most recent new america new Media Technologies in Indian Country and the native networks. So there is a lot of Research Going on. What is to do about this . How do we get the ball moving in terms of Digital Access in libraries . I really appreciate that question because i think there are some simple things that can be done. I think that thereve been some policy changes that have unintentionally left native people out or made it more difficult for tribes to Access Funding and services so the ships from the Library Construction Services Back to the Library Services act created some barriers. Those are simple shift that can be removed which make it more difficult for tribal libraries to access those funds and we can provide further information. I will point to my colleague who is the executive director of tribal ivories and museums who has provided a brief to the fcc that talks about what some of the simple policy changes are. One of the issues for instances around the fact that there are requirements for tribes in state Library Associations with their barriers to associations so there are requirements one direction that can be met in another traction which is a simple policy. Change the lever. As getting information out there and making some the applicatiapplicati ons easier to do in providing support for some of the funding applications is also relatively simple policy change that can be done. Overall something that would be potentially a little more costly but would have longterm payoffs though is i think within the overall structure of management of Library Agencies imls or another setting there needs to be more intentional focus on tribal libraries whether thats a Tribal Agency dedicated to tribal libraries or increase Staff Members who are going to be able to interface between the feds and the states in the tribal libraries. We have seen other policy areas that kind of specific focus on interjecting that were tribal into the funding stream or the policy stream has made a tremendous amount of difference and its great we have now over a decade of research to back that up. Thank you. Winston did you have a question . I the question for john. As people have more and more ways today to go on line what do you think libraries and particularly our digital resources that insulated people find information that is the most important of them . What is their niche in this information rich world . I think a lot has to do with giving people not just the resources to bolster their Digital Readiness but trust and caring contents of people can trust the information theyre getting on how to use a new application is safe. A lot of these new applications require sharing personal data and if you look at barriers to broadband particular among older people the worries about the possible hazards of on line access are huge barriers not only to adoption but sustained use the libraries can fulfill a Critical Role in that regard. John just a quick follow up for you. Is there a correlation between those who in your research at low levels of Digital Skills and the types of devices they use . Yes. Certainly people with low levels of Digital Skills have lower levels of access assets but just to reiterate a point i made during my remarks one fifth of people with low levels of Digital Skills skills have two big onramps that are key today. Broadband at home and smartphones you do control for all sorts of factors age, income amount of on line assets this the Digital Skills gap is Digital Readiness gap is real. Thank you very much. Thats good information to have. I would like to have a round of applause for our second panel and we will bring up our third panel. [applause] [inaudible conversations] so our third panel is really all about moving forward. This panel will discuss solutions for a robust connectivity in libraries. Some great ideas about that and well be hearing from gary wasdin and Eric Frederick and linda lord. Gary is the executive director of the omaha Public Library system and has had a long career in libraries and also is currently a member of the urban Libraries Council executive lord Eric Frederick is the executive director of connects michigan and linda lord, famous linda lord our Maine State Library in. Imls has a very close relationship with all of our state libraries out there and we have one of the premier state library and with us here. Linda lord who is also the chair of the erate task force that we are glad to have all of you today and they will ask you to make your remarks and then we have some good questions for you as well. So the gary would you start out . Thank you susan and thank you everyone for joining us today. Asking me to do this in five minutes is like putting me in front of a buffet and asking me to eat all the salad. Im going to try to stick to four key points in my remarks here. First just a quick overview of some of the issues we face in nebraska and in omaha. Ive been in omaha for four years so its been new to me and its been a learning process. We are a midsize city about half a Million People but nearly a third of the population of our state lives in omaha in douglas county. We have lower than average unemployment in that part of the country and certainly in omaha our economy has been much more stable over the last few years. However that really breaks down as you start to look at specific groups and specific audiences in our community. Clarence mentioned earlier about minority populations and how they are affected much more significantly by the economy and by employment issues and thats extremely through in omaha. We are largely a rural state. Omaha has 12 libraries. The rest of the state is primarily smaller libraries many of whom have Internet Access for the first time through the Successful Program. We play a strong role in education and learning with their omaha Public Libraries. That has been an even more significant over the last two years as we have been working on imls grand design to reinvent our Library System as a Community Engagement tool to help build our city and grower citys economy and to help people strengthen their lives, their skills and improve their circumstances. In doing so we have been working much more strongly with our Business Community which has transformed how we see technology and the need for technology there are Library System. We are the only access point for internet in omaha that is free so our computers are heavily used. Our wifi is even more heavily used and that grows exponentially each year. Omaha is a strong business town. We have five fortune 500 companies there and Workforce Development is one of the most critical things that has emerged through our Grant Research and working with our community. We have created a bit of a circumstance. Isnt an be able petition to be in the many ways but in this community what we have found is a community that desperately wants us to being with them and they want us to be a leader when it comes to technology education, when it comes to skills development. Many of our larger corporations are finding that they have to look outside the city to bring in skilled workers who have the Digital Skills that are necessary for our part of the country. In particular individuals who can write code and dont ask me, i dont know what coding is what i know that its necessary and our companies are having to bring in individuals who have the skill set. Its a skill set that is not terribly difficult to learn. It doesnt require formal education. Its something that individuals are given the axis and the ability to learn theres a job waiting for them on the other side. We have been asked to look at what we can do with building those skills. Just this past friday actually some very sad news. A Small Company a tech startup that grew in omaha and some of you may be familiar with it. The company is mined mixer. Its a company that creates on line town halls for cities who are looking for information through an engagementbased research from individuals in and their communities. Unfortunately they announce that theyre leaving omaha and moving to kansas city and they are doing so quite simply because they cannot find enough workers to meet the demand in omaha. Carla asked earlier how do we get the attention of elected officials for the need for libraries and digital instruction . That is how we get there attention. We have to say this cannot happen again. We cannot lose another company for this reason. Now we have already started on a lot of this work and it continues. We recently employed linda. Com which is available in all of our her libraries. This provides instruction on computers in any one of our 12 libraries on all kinds of topics and some that include software skills, Design Skills as well as management classes, leadership lasses. People can come to the library. There are video instructoinstructo r led programs that really helped them build a skill set they heretofore may not have been accessible to. We offer ged lasses in the library which gives us the opportunity not only to work with Partner Agencies to help people prepare for the ged exam itself also to help them get comfortable using computers since the ged test now is done on a computer. We dont want them to be sitting there for the first time using a computer and having to face a difficult task. The affordablaffordabl e care act was one of our most recent technology bubbles in the Library System. For the last two months for signup over 1000 people came to our libraries to find out more about their Insurance Options into signup for insurance. This was a wonderful example of how people come to libraries not just for a computer and not just for Internet Access. They came to us for support. As someone mentioned earlier i believe was chairman wheeler that talked about the guide by side hill. People who had Internet Access needed help and they were fortunate to have trained volunteer navigators they are to help people navigate the system to get on line and to use the programs that were available. Now for the future, what is the future . None of us know what the future is for technologtechnolog y. We know it will be different but what we are doing in omaha is creating a Technology Incubator library. This is a space that will give us the opportunity to experimeno see what works and see what our community needs. And to see what doesnt work. Well be able to do that in a space thats independent from our other libraries but very much connected and part of our libraries. We are doing this with a wonderful supportive philanthropists in the city and to the Publicprivate Partnership that makes these things possible. Earlier we talked a little bit about the Publicprivate Partnership and is something i rely on and were erate funding helps me tremendously. In talking to our Philanthropic Community in omaha the first thing they want to know is what is the government doing . What is the city and what is the state and federal government doing to help libraries before they will step up with their private support. So erate helps leverage those private dollars to help make this possible. In our incubator we will have the opportunity to have his face. Off her afterschool programs that teach youth Creative School skills that help them learn to design and create content higher and software for job skills for people applying for jobs and doing more. As we look to launch this space next year we are excited to take all of the research that has been done by partners around the country using the Edge Initiative that has come from youll see the Great Research that has come out of pew over the last few years to create a space where he can put those in practice and see how they fit in our omaha community. Thank you so much for this opportunity to talk and i will turn it over to eric. [applause] is a very platform up here. Director hildreth and members of the board thank you for the honor of speaking today. He is a little taller than me. The importance of broadband for libraries and the modernization of its major funding vehicles erate. I agree with gary that asking me to do this in five minutes is a difficult task. We have talked about stories and that is what im here today to do. I will give you a bit of background before he started to those stories. As susan said im the executive director of connect michigan. We are a nonprofit subsidiary of connected nation partner with the Michigan Public Service commission and our task is to felicitated the expansion of Broadband Technology access adoption use throughout the state. We are michigans expression of the state Broadband Initiative administered and funded by the National Information administration so thank you for the ntia for the opportunity. Over the last four years in concert with a lot of the other work that all programs are doing throughout the country including broadband mapping and research we have been implementing the connected Community Engagement program and this is a robust grassroots effort to bring together local stakeholders around the idea of broad Bend Technology of smallscale, assess their local broadband landscape identify gaps in their susman and help them develop and actionable plan for filling in those gaps. Over the last two years we have engaged with 27 communities across the state of michigan Doubleday Mount required by a federal grant and engage 1300 stakeholders in that process. Team members on these local teams include chambers of commerce Academic Development corp. Schools broadband providers and of course the libraries. We have seen firsthand through the connected program the Critical Role that libraries play in communities throughout the country. Library service and access point to a limitless resources of the internet and of course her catalyst for adoption. Services offered by libraries are some of the key points that we look at when doing our local Broadband Assessment through the connected Program Including Public Computer Center hours and Digital Literacy classes. We have countless stories to share regarding best practices and success is coming out of or connected program. If i were to shake my sieve of this practice as those that float to the top of the libraries. I want to share specific stories from michigan communities and the impact they are having in Broadband Technology. In Eastern Upper Peninsula Library System came a hub for students access the internet once the local system provided students grades seven through 12 with a laptop excess of the btop program however the vast majority of the students did not have an athome broadband connections to libraries advocated for expanded parking lots to increase their bandwidth and extended their hours to meet the needs of the students. In communities with active Broadband Technology planning teams many michigan are working with libraries to ensure this adequate bandwidth hours of operation and capacity to meet the increased community demand for highspeed connectivity. Libraries across michigan contribute significant to local Economic Development efforts partnering local chambers of commerce and economic develop and corporations to host web site and social Media Development training for Small Businesses. Michigans economy realized quite heavily on these establishments and those are businesses with 20 employees or fewer harvard researchers found michigan Small Business are less likely to adopt broadband that large establishments and Small Businesses in other states. In response in the winter 2013 members of the chippewa Technology Planning teams engage their connected Program Partners with libraries and chambers of commerce to train 140 Small Businesses on ecommerce and Web Site Development so they may Leverage Technology to sustain and grow themselves and rural michigan appeared along the same lines michigans harbor committees are greatly depend on the summer months. Anyone who is familiar with the Pure Michigan campaign. They require ongoing committee geisha with employers via email and cloud computing. Find michigan hybrids and small coastal towns making ideal second offices away from home. They contribute to the local economy for longer periods of time because they still have sufficient bandwidth to telecommute. Libraries in Harbor Springs witowski frankfurt Traverse City upanddown michigans west coast are packed with these types of folks in the summertime being able to bring their families to michigan to enjoy the environment. As we have experienced our work on the ground to michigan libraries that are engage with a Broader Community Technology Planning program are developing creative and Innovative Solutions in programs and methods to help solve Community Connectivity and adoption initiatives. Erate reform offers an unprecedented opportunity to prioritize and incentivize applications for libraries that are part of a Broader Community of technology plan. Libraries and rural michigan are seen as gems in their community. Susan mentioned earlier about bringing libration the forefront of peoples minds and these Broader Community Technology Planning teams are absolutely doing that bringing libraries back to the forefront of the minds of local officials and schools and Economic Development corporations for the role they play in connecting everyone in the community. Publicprivate partnerships and concurrent the structure instruction are just a few examples of efficiencies produced from collaborating in cloward of Community Technology programs. Libraries play a Critical Role in Broadband Access and adoption and Mission Communities not just for the Digital Literacy skills of individuals but for those of businesses that are making michigan communities thrive in these tough Economic Times. Thank you again for allowing me to come today and to share some of the stories and successes of michigans libraries. Thank you. [applause] the final speakers may keep her way up here. Linda lord. Thank you so much eric. Good morning everyone. I am in awe at being here today with so many interesting people including some old friends. What a pleasure. Thank you imls. I dont know where commissioner hunt is but hearing him speak in a few minutes is one of the thrills of my being here today. I learned a phrase here in d. C. A couple of years ago which seems incredibly appropriate. Everything has been said but not everyone has said it. [laughter] and im sure you have not heard it in a maine accent so here i go. And i wanted very much to yell ditto and ditto after gary and eric spoke. I certainly enjoyed their comments. The american Library Association has advocated for highcapacity broadband Libraries Library since the beginning of the Erate Program and i am always so proud to mention that my former senator Olympia Snowe was essential, was critical in getting this program into the American Telecommunications legislation of 1996. Allah recognizing the importance of erate for libraries early on established an official at erate task force that closely monitors and responds to fcc proceedings within the Washington Office and i am so pleased to work with these people at allah who are so supportive of the task forces work. There is no question that the erate has transformed the way libraries and schools function to better serve the needs of patrons and students and from my perspective in maine its been an incredibly Successful Program however after nearly 20 years even the Successful Program should reassess to make sure that is focused on meeting todays connectivity needs. Therefore allah supports the finetuning of the program and creating efficiencies wherever possible. However i do caution we first do no harm. In march the fcc released a Public Notice and i will share a few details since i have been asked to from the allah responses. First allah believes its proposals address some of the greatest challenges are libraries have in reaching the broadband speeds they need for todays and tomorrows services. Allah wants to focus on places where highcapacity broadband is not available to libraries and where if it is available it is not affordable. Allah wants to also Study Library broadband targets. We believe that this should occur with Scalable Technology instead of continuing in incremental improvements. We envision all libraries at one gigabyte by 2018 if not earlier. As an aside our goal for 2015 is one gig to 99 of maines schools and libraries. I want to interject here that maine had all its schools and libraries connected to the internet in 1997 and 1998. We connected them to a 56 k. Line with a fred. Does anyone know what it is any anymore . Is a frame access device and we truly thought we were in hog heaven. A rep came to the meeting and he said youve got to be thinking about service. Obviously that is changed as rapidly as the other states who have heard about earlier. I just met the wonderful and the fcc yesterday to learn that arizona South Carolina and maine maximize use of the Erate Program and not being competitive for anything i thought why isnt maine first but then i realized alphabetical order so i tamps down after that one. We do maximize their use of Erate Program and i would love to explain how we do that but theres no time for it. If anyones interested i will be glad to talk your ear off on whats going on in maine. 25 say a majority of their libraries lack adequate bandwidth now in 92 say most of their libraries will need more bandwidth within three years. I did a quick survey in maine a couple of weeks ago asking what libraries would do with broader bandwidth and within a few hours a 51 replies some from libraries i never hear from baking for router bandwidth which i thought was fascinating because we think they do a pretty good job at providing what they needed obviously arent. It is broadband is so critical to libraries and they recommend using a portion of the fccs 2 billiondollar i believe its called down payment to immediately increase library broadband. Ala has three main proposals. The first is called the Scalable Technology Deployment Program that would apply to libraries in close proximity to providers who can offer speeds of at least 100 megabits up to our one gigabit. Ala thinks his project can find ways to being cost affordable and might read expanding with his little competition. The second proposal would promote school harder ships. At if a school is a Broadband Connectivity in a Library Close to it has why not have a Library Author that schools broadband and when ala mentioned this i said isnt that legal now . We are doing it in places in maine and the main mains response was yes its perfectly respectable to do now. The third and final project calls for Network Diagnostics and technical support. This project would maximize the cost inefficient use of erate unsent helpless libraries including purchasing and burglarized on support from state libraries who have trained erate coordinators with a statewide perspective on the status and connect to the needs of their libraries. You want to recognize imls for allowing ellis ta funds to be used for education. Thats a huge support in very critical and i would be remiss without recognizing the Gates Foundation. What a difference it made. Two other suggestions. Align the processes you have heard that before and overall funding is going to have to be increased. I will tell you frankly that phasing out support for Voice Services is then a contentious issue for the past task force and libraries across the country particularly our smaller rural libraries. Some of the issues we have weighed in on include what to do or we have discussed including what to do in cases of emergency or areas where alternative to telephone may not be reliable or affordable. I did another survey for my poor libraries to a survey to death and it was clipped right down the middle on this. Whether not losing it would damage them and i got the most touching note from one library. A Large Library with the gigabit finish and they said yes to losing pot support with her just because we taken a couple thousand dollars a year because we have these lines coming in however we know how much of their libraries need broadband so we would vote to spend the money on broadband. That just amazed me that library had the big perspective and was aware of concerns across the state. We do ala supports a phaseout of Voice Services. I emphasize gradually for the reasons i just mentioned. Finally i would like to bring this back to and you have heard this. Libraries touch all aspects of life from education employment entrepreneurship empowering people in all stages and all walks of life. When people cant apply for jobs and Access Government Services because they dont have access from home Public Libraries must be there for them. Where else are they going to go . Police station . Town hall. I dont think so. Public libraries libraries are it and i guess i want to conclude. We have heard so many statistics in so many goals but to bring it down to what gary did we are talking about the lives of tens of thousands of individual people whose lives are being enriched by it broadband in our Public Libraries and that is the key plan i want to leave you with. We we are not just talking abstractions data and goals. We are talking about peoples lives. The final point is we dont know what the next new thing is going to be. A lot of patrons are going to come in any year wearing googled losses in bringing the ipads in their computers, their iphones . We dont know but whatever it is we do know it will involve and with an Library Patrons will expect their libraries are ready to provide it and it works well at the library. We cant allow inadequate bandwidth to limit the services that are libraries can give their communities. Thank you very much. [applause] thank you window. I think most of the folks in the audience know what pazz is and i was listening to you linda and i almost heard pots and i said why is the ftc supporting pot in libraries but Pots Plain Old Telephone Service just to clarify. It would be fun if we had pot there as well but plain old telephone service. So we have a couple of questions. We will try to stay on time watching our clocks but our first question comes from one of our Board Members Christy Brando who i also want to just ignore it has been a state librarian and has been involved with erate issues in both michigan and kansas for sure and im not sure about other states. Christie i think you have a question for gary. You mentioned that erate helps leverage dollars. What are some of the challenges you have experienced with the current Erate Program and how would you suggest it changes to better serve your community . As i said it is key and leveraging other dollars which helps us magnify what we are capable of doing. In a library of my size the money that comes in from that without it we wouldnt be able to provide the service period. The cuts that we would have to make to offset the loss of that funding would be significant. The challenges many have mentioned already with the complicated processes involved as an example in the library of my size with a limited number of staff and especially with staff with limited expertise in this area have to pay a Consulting Firm to apply for erate funds for us so we actually have to spend some of our money to even apply to get the funds. Its worth it for us to force but that is how challenging the process and the time involved is doing it. Thats true throughout nebraska so as far as how we change i think looking at how we can make this an easier process to get the money where it needs to go and insured spent smartly. Eric you spoke, you heard very compelling stories that talk a little bit more about how you think the Public Private partnerships have really impacted Community Planning efforts in erate modernization. I think its a great example to have a publicprivate work going on and hasnt really made a difference . I think it absolutely has. We find in tough Economic Times particularly in rural michigan in communities that have been hit the hardest that Public Private partnerships are a way of life now. No single entity could stand on their own so when we bring these things together natural collaborative models come to the top. This libraries talking to schools chambers and economic developers. We have seen among community were separate intergovernmental Library Systems and others joined together to provide erate for everyone signed on rural local governments to that system for increased efficiencies and then expanded that system and linked it to a privatesector provider to serve grimm townships in a county that is the most underserved in michigan and now has a Broadband Connectivity. Those Publicprivate Partnerships are definitely a way of life force by the economic downturn but showing success in a lot of fake kind companies we work them. Linda we are both from states that have a lot of rural libraries that rely on erate and pots to serve the community they have. How will these proposals help those libraries that are the furthest behind . Also any thoughts about rural areas where we have challenges in terms of making investments at all . Yes, absolutely