Over in Lincoln County the Davenport Public Library is doing business, but not quite as usual. In 2013 they were the beneficiaries of a Broadband Technologies Opportunity Program (BTOP) grant as well as a LSTA grant both administered by the Washington State Library. We recently heard from Katy Pike, a librarian at the Davenport library about some of the ways that implementing this grant has impacted the Davenport community. First the numbers. Their speeds used to be a slow 1.5 mbps download and .5 upload. After on average they now receive 20 mbps download and 22 mbps upload speeds. Quite a change.

Katy reports that before the grant it was impossible to run a public and staff computer on the same internet line without competing for the very limited bandwidth.  With the upgrades this is no longer true. Other benefits to the patrons are that many people in the community now use the library computers for filing tax returns, applying for DSHS benefits, career development, online education, and information or entertainment needs. And because of the broadband the Davenport Library now has the capacity to run Microsoft IT Academy from its public computers which will allow the local residents to increase their computer skills, which hopefully will lead to better jobs.

But the best part of the story is not about numbers but about people. Katy told us three of the kind of stories we love to hear, and they seemed like stories to share.

As soon as the library was set up with higher speeds, a teen girl in our community was able to utilize DPL’s internet to meet her homework and entertainment needs. Originally, the internet speed was not sufficient enough to load online programs that were accessible to visually impaired patrons. Now, this young lady uses the library’s downloadable book service and Wi-Fi.

Our fire station across the street from DPL utilized the library’s Wi-Fi when retraining volunteer firefighters in CPR/First Aid. (It was needed to access the instructor’s online education materials.)

The sewing business next door to DPL is utilizes the Wi-Fi to teach crafting classes and to conduct other business transactions.

Katy said that while the library is open only sixteen hours a week, the Wi-Fi extends beyond the walls of the library. People often use the library’s Wi-Fi just by sitting in their cars after hours. All in all, it sounds like the library’s broadband is having a wide range effect on the Davenport community.

Finally a quote from Katy, “E-rate, the equipment awarded from the 2013 Broadband grant, and technology expertise from the Washington State Library allowed the Davenport Public Library to successfully participate with the BTOP grant. The [Davenport] library doesn’t have consistent tech support and doesn’t have the necessary infrastructure to have participated without guidance from the Washington State Library.”

The Washington State Library is working diligently to help support the libraries and by extension the residents of Washington State. Thanks to Katy for sharing her story with us. How has the State Library impacted your community?

John Windhausen from Telepoly, Chris McLean (former Administrator of the Rural Utilities Service) and Greg Rhode (former Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration), now partners in the e-Copernicus consulting company, will guide you through an overview of the application process for broadband stimulus money and answer any questions you may have.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009
4:00 PM – 5:30 PM EDT

Pre-registration is required:
http://www.wo.ala.org/districtdispatch/?p=3168

The feds released the rules for applying for broadband stimulus funding today. We’ve been waiting on pins and needles for weeks. Finally the day has come.

As we anticipated, the application window is short — July 14, 2009 at 8:00 a.m. ET until August 14, 2009 at 5:00 p.m. ET.

Anyone anticipating applying for or being part of an aggregated application for broadband stimulus funding should read the rules at at http://broadbandusa.sc.egov.usda.gov/files/BB%20NOFA%20FINAL%20with%20disclaimer_1.pdf. Yep, all 121 pages.

The rules cover both the RUS Broadband Initiatives Program (loans and grants for broadband infrastructure projects in rural areas) and the NTIA Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) (grants to fund broadband infrastructure, public computer centers and sustainable broadband adoption projects).

There’s also a notice in the Federal Register (V.74 no. 125, Wednesday, July 01, 2009) at http://broadbandusa.sc.egov.usda.gov/files/BroadbandBuyAmericaNotice7-1-09.pdf. It includes details on the “Buy American” waiver for the RUS broadband initiative.

The Washington State Library will participate in a conference call with the American Library Association Washington Office on Thursday, July 2. We anticipate that ALA Washington will host an open webinar on July 8. We will be send out the details when we have them.

In the meantime, Jan Walsh continues to serve on the Governor’s Broadband Advisory Council which is wrestling with the issue of criteria for awarding broadband grants. We are doing our best to ensure that Washington’s libraries are well represented. We’ll be in touch. You do the same.