We all know how hard the quarantine has been on us and our community members. And one of the big issues this has shown to everyone is the extreme problems of the digital divide. We are an information profession, and when people cannot access information we can’t do our jobs – and they suffer for it.

The organizations providing access to the internet can, fortunately for them, afford really good lobbyists and legislators to help them write laws protecting themselves against any competition. This gives them the ability to just increase prices anytime – to any level, and to provide any level of service, or lack of service. None of us have realistic options. We’ve seen a lot of important topics related to justice and equality in society improve recently; giving everyone affordable, realistic access to the internet would be an excellent issue to help bring a better community for everyone.

This is a podcast from NPR’s Planet Money, about a town in North Carolina that tried to fight back. Spoiler: they lost. (Not much of a spoiler, as you may have seen from your latest internet bill – if you have access to it at all.)

This is an issue that speaks directly to our members: we serve a predominantly rural population, and there are few areas in our membership that have a bunch of extra money floating around. I grew up in the cornfields of Central Illinois – and we couldn’t even get cable TV because there aren’t enough people in rural areas to make it profitable. They still don’t have the option to buy access to the internet there. It’s the same in too many places.

This is a problem, and it’s going to be a big problem for us as the need to stay home, to attend school online, and to keep working online, will be with us for quite a while. Now is a good time to get informed, so we can be ready to move ahead with this as one of the crucial issues of our time.

Check out this excerpt from Inside Higher Education, and you can find the whole article here.

“Pam Eddinger, the president of Bunker Hill Community College in Boston, tweeted something so true and helpful that it really deserves much more attention that it received. She was responding to a story about students who struggle with broadband access, which is utterly devastating when classes are being held remotely. As she put it, universal Wi-Fi is “one of the few cross-sector silver bullets. No downside for Public K12 and Higher Ed, Public Health, Business and Commerce. #nodownside”

I couldn’t agree more.

Our current system of broadband is the worst of all worlds. It’s basically a patchwork of unregulated monopolies, or, if you’re lucky, duopolies. Although broadband functions like a utility, we treat it like a discretionary consumer item. That enables providers to charge pretty much whatever they want, knowing that most customers have little choice but to pay it. Longtime readers can recall me ranting from time to time about my struggles with Comcast back in Massachusetts; the root of those struggles was that there was no other provider. I couldn’t take my business elsewhere unless I was willing to go without internet entirely, which wasn’t a realistic option. A regulated system could provide more reasonable rates, as we have with electricity. A competitive market could provide better service and better rates. But an unregulated private monopoly is abuse waiting to happen.

For many of our students, internet access is a greater challenge than a device. We can (and do) loan out laptops, but they’re only useful when they’re connected. Used laptops or iPads are fairly cheap, but monthly broadband isn’t.

This isn’t just an issue for colleges. If it wasn’t obvious before the shutdown, it should be clear beyond argument now that fast, reliable, affordable internet access is a prerequisite for engagement in the larger economy. Cheap and excellent broadband is a tool for equity, but also for economic development. It would particularly help low-income people, but everyone would benefit from being able to tell exploitative monopolists to go pound sand. Providing broadband on a universal basis would give it a broad base of political support, protecting it against bands of roving austerians. It’s both egalitarian and pro-market; in many ways, the arguments for it are parallel to the arguments for good public education.”

Check out this great information from Minitex!

“The Virtual Libraries Comic Convention and Bibliolabs are making more than 4,000 comics, graphic novels, and other childrens’ materials available to Minnesota readers for free online over the duration of this summer. The collection is accessible online using the same geolocation system employed by Ebooks Minnesota.

According to the announcement penned by Bibliolabs CEO Mitchell Davis, “all of the involved partners are also cooperating on a virtual VLCC online event to be held this summer. That event will feature interactive sessions with some of the industry’s leading talent as well as librarians talking about grassroots graphic novel creation and local zine publishing programs. The event is a collaboration with the canceled CoMIXgraphicCON, part of the Twin Cities Teen Lit Con (TLC) which attracts approximately 1,400 attendees. The TLC event was scheduled to happen in late April, but was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Sarah Hawkins, project manager at the Metropolitan Library Services Agency (MELSA), added, “When we had to cancel our event, we reached out to BiblioLabs to see if this project might help fill the gap for us and for other canceled events across Minnesota. They reacted quickly and we are now in the process of re-organizing around the new virtual format.”

The collection will also be available in California, New Jersey, Montana, Ohio, Massachusetts, Washington, Kentucky, Rhode Island, and West Virginia.”

This season we are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!

Franz Jevne State Park was first designated as a Wayside park in 1967; in 1969 it was adjusted to be a state park. For this prompt, read a book about a character with two names, or with a changed identity.

We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all – including a nice book – Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!

This program might be a very cool thing for our members, and something to share with your community members!

“ST. PAUL, Minn . – The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) announced today a new partnership with Coursera, the leading online learning platform that offers courses from 200 top universities and businesses around the world, including more than 60 courses from the University of Minnesota. This partnership is made possible by the Coursera Workforce Recovery Initiative .

DEED will work directly with Coursera to create accounts for Minnesotans and provide immediate access to online courses. Learners in Minnesota who choose to sign up for Coursera will need to complete their registration before September 30, 2020. Thanks to additional support from the state government of Minnesota, learners will have full access to training through March 2021.

Any Minnesotan who has applied for unemployment insurance in 2020 and already has an account on uimn.org will receive an invitation to sign up for Coursera; other Minnesotans who are interested may also provide their name and contact information at CareerForceMN.com/Coursera to receive access.

“Providing access to free online courses is an important way that DEED is rethinking our service delivery in light of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said DEED Commissioner Steve Grove. “Whether you’re out of work or considering a career shift, this partnership with Coursera provides a unique and timely opportunity to earn certifications in high-demand jobs and industries at no additional cost.”

“DEED is focused on supporting our communities; creating hiring ecosystems that leverage the full capabilities of government agencies, educational providers and employers; and building pathways for meaningful employment,” added DEED Deputy Commissioner of Workforce Development Hamse Warfa. “This important partnership with Coursera will help Minnesotans develop in-demand skills and strengthen the resilience of our state’s workforce.”

Through this initiative, learners will have access to 3,800 courses on Coursera that cover job-relevant skills in business, technology, and data science as well as courses related to professional and personal development. These include Professional Certificates from companies like IBM, Google, and Cisco that are aimed at helping prepare people for entry-level careers in fields like IT. Other in-demand industries with relevant upskilling content on the platform include construction, manufacturing, and health care. The platform is mobile-friendly, available in multiple languages, and provides extensive back-end support to ensure accessibility on any device. For learners without regular internet access at home, the courses can also be downloaded and accessed offline.

“The pandemic has affected millions of workers in the United States, including many hard-working Minnesotans,” said Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO of Coursera. “Coursera is honored to partner with the state of Minnesota to equip workers with job-relevant skills taught by leading educators like the University of Minnesota.”

Full access to the Coursera platform typically costs individual learners $400 annually. This initiative will allow those costs to be waived for any Minnesotans that want to utilize the platform, including the cost of earning certifications and industry-recognized credentials. Minnesotans interested in extending their Coursera access after March 2021 will have an option to pay for additional access.”

Racial Equity Listening Sessions

As stated in our LSTA Five-Year Plan, “identifying and advancing equity along with responding to institutional and structural racism is a principal interest of State Library Services.” This work is taking on more urgency in the wake of George Floyd’s killing; our commitment is to keep our focus on racial equity even as the protests subside.

Our next step is a series of listening sessions, scheduled in July and August, to hear from library staff about their experiences with racial equity work in libraries. These sessions are full, but the input from these sessions will shape our future initiatives in supporting libraries in their work toward racial equity.

Looking at Summer Learning

As summer learning programs launch around the state (check out this movie trailer from Hoyt Lakes Public Library), our colleagues Ashley Bieber and Leah Larson continue to hold weekly calls on summer learning.

This is a chance to connect with youth services colleagues around the state to share ideas about summer learning, virtual programming, and ways libraries can support youth and families during this time.

Weekly meeting times are TBD. Contact Ashley Bieber or Leah Larson to add your name to the email list.

REALM: Test Plan Released

REALM is the research partnership between OCLC, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and Battelle. The project has released two updates: a test plan for determining how long library and archival materials need to be left alone before the COVID-19 virus is undetectable, and the literature review that informed the test plan.

For more information on this first round of testing and other activities, visit the “Happening Now” project update page. For more on the scope, timeline, and committees involved with #REALMproject, visit oc.lc/realm-project. And to receive future project updates directly, complete the REALM project update sign-up form.

Find Your Way to Fairyland

With imagination and determination, the Waseca-Le Sueur Regional Library System has transformed their Fairytale and Folklore Festival into a series of virtual and in-person events through June and July.

They’ve put together a dizzying schedule of activities, inviting renowned fairytale and folktale authors and illustrators to share their stories and craft. Check the schedule to see how you can participate in enhanced story walks, a shadow puppet performance and workshop, book clubs, ukelele sing-a-longs, craft projects, and more.

All events are free and open to the public. Most events require advance registration. Register on the Waseca-LeSueur Regional Library System website.

About State Library Services

State Library Services, a division of the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE), partners with libraries to achieve equity and excellence in our collective work for Minnesotans. Division staff are consultants who help libraries plan, develop and implement high-quality services that address community needs. State Library Services administers federal grant, state aid, and state grant programs that benefit all types of libraries.”