Nebraska Libraries First to Participate in Broadband Toolkit Pilot
By Holly Woldt, Nebraska Library Commission, and Tom Rolfes, Nebraska Information Technology Commission
In March, five Nebraska public libraries had a unique experience participating in kick-off site visits for a pilot program funded by a Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The grant was awarded to Internet2®, a member-owned advanced technology consortium founded by the nation’s leading higher education institutions. The Internet2 U.S. UCAN (Unified Community Anchor Network) division spearheaded the grant application with the intent of assisting small, rural public libraries all across the United States.
This pilot program is focused on providing rural public libraries a comprehensive broadband toolkit as a series of questions with resources available for the library staff to better understand the questions or further explore a particular technology topic. The answers to the toolkit questions assist the library staff in understanding the current state of broadband at the public library as a function of the library’s internal and external infrastructure and how it meets (or doesn’t meet) the needs of the community.
Public library directors and staff in the Nebraska communities of Atkinson, Gering, Valley, Walthill, and Wymore each spent a half a day with Holly Woldt of the Nebraska Library Commission and Tom Rolfes from the State Office of the CIO, who acted as the technical advisors to the five Nebraska libraries.
Library staff and technical advisors examined the details of each library’s broadband profile. Susannah Spellman from Internet2® participated in site visits to the public libraries in Valley and Wymore. Ms. Spellman said, “We are delighted to partner with the Nebraska Library Commission and Network Nebraska to pilot the IMLS-funded Broadband Toolkit. Being able to leverage the library technology expertise of the Nebraska Library Commission, especially from their Library Broadband Builds Nebraska Communities BTOP grant, and the broadband and E-Rate expertise of the State Office of the CIO delivers an even more powerful learning experience for the library staff involved in the pilot.”
The toolkit is designed to help library staff assess and evaluate their library’s broadband connection and internal Wi-Fi network. Topic areas include how broadband is delivered to the library; the library’s broadband provider; and infrastructure details including inside wiring, types of devices connecting the library’s network, age of wiring and devices; and reliability of the library network (availability and speed). The toolkit includes links to online resources and a glossary to help guide the staff through the assessment activities. As staff work through the assessment with the technical advisors, they identify quick fixes and long-range plans that are summarized in a customized Broadband Improvement Plan for the library.
All five of the pilot libraries appreciated having an opportunity to learn about the status of the broadband in their libraries and identified improvements that could be made immediately (and in the long term) to better serve the library and their community.
“The information in the toolkit that we received will help us learn and prepare to become a bigger and better community hot spot. We were presented with resources, hands-on demos, suggestions, and best of all—a timeline to accomplish what will help us improve and be a better asset to our community,” said Janet Roberts, Library Director, Wymore Public Library.
Internet2 is a not-for-profit United States computer networking consortium led by members from the research and education communities, industry, and government. The Internet2 consortium began in 1996 and now connects over 250 colleges and universities, as well as 60,000 community anchor institutions.
Network Nebraska is a statewide consortium of public and private K-12 and higher education entities working together to improve the speed, reliability and affordability of high bandwidth fiber infrastructure. The State Office of the CIO and the University of Nebraska cooperatively administer and manage this voluntary, self-funded network that includes over 290 entities.
From the Spring 2017 issue (PDF) of Nebraska Broadband