ALA Community Connect: Fostering Digital Access Grants

Deadline: April 3, 2023

In partnership with Capital One, the ALA Public Programs Office is seeking applicants to participate in Community Connect: Fostering Digital Access. This pilot will provide 11 rural public libraries located in select states (Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and West Virginia) with a resource package to support digital access during a one-year library implementation period.

The goals of this initiative are to:

• expand service capacity of rural libraries by offering hotspot and laptop lending policies; digital literacy programs; affordable broadband access information; and financial capability seminars.
• improve the digital access of rural library patrons via hotspots and laptops to enhance opportunities for social mobility by pursuing remote education, economic inclusion, financial management, and health.
• build on the efficacy of phase I by equipping libraries with resources to assist patrons in establishing and sustaining home internet connections via opportunities like the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP)

In the first pilot stage of Community Connect, Digital Access at Home, 20 rural libraries received resources to offer a hotspot lending program to their patrons. Findings from this phase showed that providing patrons with the ability to access online resources, especially during the pandemic, supported an improved quality of life. Digital access is critical to connecting rural communities to education, entrepreneurship, and employment, as well as to health, financial and other services that are increasingly only accessible online.

Libraries selected to participate in the second phase of Community Connect will receive:

• Five Verizon Wi-Fi hotspots with one-year contracts and service for lending to patrons
• Five HP laptops for lending to patrons
• A $2,000 stipend to support educational programs
• Professional development and support including a practitioner’s guide and webinars
• Expenses paid for a library staff member to attend a one-day orientation workshop at ALA’s Annual Conference in Chicago in June 2023 (this is not required)

Public libraries are eligible if they serve a population of 25,000 or less and are in a rural community at least 5 miles from an urbanized area, per the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) definition.

Grantees must meet minimum programming and reporting requirements. For more details, and to apply, visit the website: https://www.ala.org/tools/programming/communityconnect