From the desk of Rand Simmons

Sometimes I get weary trying to keep up with what’s happening with the federal stimulus funding, but then there are occasions like today that lift my spirits. Amanda McKeraghan, Director of the Libraries of Stevens County, shared a compliment about Jan’s public comment at the governor’s use of broadband meeting on Monday. The compliment came from the academic sector.

I mentioned — in my April 20th blog — that the comments of Marc Berejka of Microsoft at that same meeting supported our own. His rallying cry was “fiberize all school, libraries, and hospitals.”

PC Magazine online ran a story, Microsoft: Schools, Libraries Need Broadband Funds, on April 24. “The federal funds are not enough to wire the entire country, so grant recipients will have to be able to sustain the systems beyond the initial infusion of government cash. As such, Microsoft suggests putting that money toward specific institutions.”

Berejka wrote in his April 23d blog post to Microsoft on the Issues: “There is not enough stimulus money to supply a broadband connection to every home, but using government funds to link every school, library and hospital will accelerate the rate at which the benefits of this important technology can be spread throughout the country.”

Neel Parikh, Director of the Pierce County Library System, has queried Washington public library directors to see who is interested in putting together an aggregated broadband application. She’s received a good response. It is exciting to see how the possibility of Washington public libraries getting broadband stimulus funding is coming together. As they say on the radio, “stay tuned.”