David Lee King

social media | emerging trends | libraries

Worst Connected Cities: How does Your City Rank?

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No Wifi!The National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) just shared a recent survey focused on broadband Internet connectivity in cities with more than 50,000 households. You can find that survey here.

Unfortunately for Topeka, KS (where I live) … we are ranked the 10th worst connected city in the US.

Here’s a little more info from NDIA’s website about the ranking:

Using data from the 2016 American Community Survey (ACS), released in September 2017 by the U.S. Census Bureau, NDIA ranked all 185 U.S. cities with more than 50,000 households by the total percentage of each city’s households lacking fixed broadband internet subscriptions. Note that this data is not an indication of the availability of home broadband service, but rather of the extent to which households are actually connected to it.

That’s why my library’s CEO is working with other local governmental and non-profit organizations to get affordable (and more) broadband into our community.

It also demonstrates the value of a library providing great wifi in their buildings and having up-to-date computers for people to use when they visit. Why? Because a lot of people need it – in Topeka, for example … they aren’t getting that level of connectivity anywhere else.

Not sure how your library is doing? Start by asking (and answering) these questions:

  • How is YOUR library’s Internet access? Any slow-downs during the day? Is it too slow?
  • Do you have adequate wifi?
  • Are your public computers up-to-date? Do they work like your customers want them to?
  • Do you have enough computers/laptops/tablets for customers?
  • If you need to improve any of these areas … what is your plan for doing that? Who do you need to talk to?

Start planning for those needed improvements … that’s a step int he right direction for your library, and for your customers!

Image by Paille

Two Stories about My Library

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There are two articles that have been recently published about my library (Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library).

Here are the two articles:

Article #1: Digital Inclusion in Topeka, published in Library Journal. I wrote this one with Rob Banks (COO at the library). It focuses on some of the digital inclusion projects we are working on in the community. I’m a bit biased, but I think we’re doing some good work in Topeka!

Article #2: New Technology Helps State and Local Teams Advance the Data Center, published in StateTech magazine. A few staff from my library were interviewed for this article. It focuses on some new data center infrastructure we recently put into place. They also made a video, which I’ll share once it’s released.

Why is this useful? Well … it’s certainly fun to have my library recognized for the good work we do. It also gives you something to share with your community. We shared these article on social media and to our board. Sometimes this type of recognition can be shared via a press release to local and regional news outlets, too.

Most libraries (and pretty much any other type of organization) has a few customers (or non-customers) who haven’t visited for awhile, or who think the library is an outdated concept.

So show people what you do – share these types of articles with them. It’s one of many ways to show your continuing relevance in today’s ever-changing world.

Image by Damian Gadal

Digital Inclusion at the Library – New Article at Emerald

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Digital inclusion was a hot topic in the library world in 2016. Are you familiar with the phrase? Digital Inclusion is simply helping people of all walks of life access the internet and use technology.

Want the rest of the article? You can find it at Emerald Group Publishing.

In the article, I discuss what digital inclusion is, what my library is doing in that area, and have some links to more reading on digital inclusion and libraries.

Go check it out!

Broadband Internet Access is a Basic Service

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Broadband internet access is a basic service … or will be in Canada, anyway!

The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC, sorta like the US FCC) recently ordered their internet service providers to “begin working toward boosting internet service and speeds in rural and isolated areas.” Here’s the full news article (at the CBC).

So what are they doing, exactly? Their goal is to make sure everyone in Canada has access to a 50mbps broadband connection to the internet, with unlimited data. And they’ll do it within 10-15 years.

The government is helping to set up a special fund that will help pay for this – all the providers pay into the fund, then can use that money to build infrastructure. It’s similar to how they handled building landline infrastructure.

The one caveat? They won’t intervene to make that access cheaper. So in a rural area, someone could “have access” to broadband, if they want to pay for that access.

Still – it’s a huge step in the right direction. The US isn’t there yet, but working towards it – check out the FCC’s national broadband plan for more info.

What do you think – is internet access a basic service, like electricity or water? I think so. How about you?

image from Wikimedia