The Kaiser Family Foundation just released a new report entitled “Children, The Digital Divide and Federal Policy.”

Among the findings is the fact that public libraries are the third most common place where children go online after home and school. Specifially, Internet access from the library is very important for children who do not have Internet access at home. And who has Internet access at home? Well, 80% of white kids do but only 61% of African American kids do and 67% of Hispanics do.

Other interesting statistics:

? Fifteen percent of all 5- to 17-year-olds have gone online at a library, including one in four (25%) children living in poverty.

? More than one in four (29%) African-American children have gone online from a library, more than any other racial or ethnic group. Hispanic children have the next highest rate (20%), followed by Asians (17%), Whites (12%), and American Indians (11%).

? More than one in four (28%) children with disabilities have gone online from a library, compared to 17% of non-disabled children.

The report goes on to provide a thorough history of the Internet, access, the digital divide and what the federal government has been done about it. They cite three federal programs that were designed to address the digital divide including E-Rate, TOPS and CTC.

E-Rate is credited with increasing the percentage of libraries with Internet access from 26% in 1996 to 95% in 2002. We all know that this program has recently faced problems including funding issues, waste and fraud charges not to mention the controversial filtering requirement.

TOPS, Technology Opportunities Program, is a program which provides
seed money for innovative uses of advanced technology
in the public and nonprofit sectors. It was funded in 2001 for $42.5 million. Bush cut funding to $15 million in 2002 and has been trying to eliminate the program ever since. In 2003, Congress funded it for $15.5 despite Bush’s attempt to kill it.

CTC, Community Technology Centers, is a program that provides technology access and training for economically disadvantaged communities. In 2002, Bush tried to eliminate the program in favor of the infamous No Child Left Behind program but Congress funded it for $32.5 million anyway (a 50% reduction from 2000). Congress funded it a meager $10 million in 2003 (over Bush objections)…another $30 million reduction from the previous year.

The report goes on to suggest ways to increase access to computers and the Internet for all children including to expand home access by including Internet access in the Universal Service Fund that now provides phone service to low-income household and to attach Internet access requirements to low-income housing projects (see Kerry Hatch bill, S.305).

They recommend expanding public access in public settings by extending E-Rate eligibility, expanding E-Rate to cover more than just the connection, make school computers available after hours, use money collected from the sale of public airwaves to invest in access and content (see Digital Dividends Act, HR 1396) and to set aside wireless frequencies for hot spots that serve low-income communities.

Like most Kaiser Family Foundation reports, it is excellent. I’ve just touched upon some highlights. Take a peek.

There seems to be a crevice in the digital divide. The Pew Internet and American Life Project has issued two reports that suggest there are haves, have-nots and also have-a-lots.

In his 4/19/04 report “55% of Adult Internet Users Have Broadband at Home or Work”, John Horrigan reports 68 million adult Americans have broadband either at home or work. 48 million have broadband connections at home, an increase of 60% since March 2003.

In “Use of the Internet in places other than home or work: A PIP Data Memo (3/3/04)”, Paul Harwood and Lee Rainie report that 23% of adult users now use the Internet from a place other than home or work and that there are two groups of these multi-locational types:

• those that go online wherever they are — these are the ‘have-a-lots’
• those who rely on friends or the library for their Internet access — these are the ‘haves’

The ‘have-a-lots’ go online wherever they are. They are among the 60% of Amercians with broadband connections at home, work and/or school. They are Internet savvy. They are probably under the age of 30. The Internet has become part of their lives. They are sophisticated and weathy enough to exploit all aspects of the Internet from shopping to entertainment to news to filing legal documents to getting their masters degree online.

The ‘haves’ might rely on friends or the library for high-speed access and are more likely to be relatively poor without high levels of education. The study finds that 3% of the US population fit this profile. They tend to earn under $30,000 and live in rural areas. The Internet is not a way of lifefor these users. My guess is these users use the Internet for simple browsing and email but probably aren’t downloading mp3 files, registering their car at the DMV site, viewing webcasts or attending school via distance education.

And that’s just one side of the divide. On the other side are the people with no Internet access at home, work or otherwise.

How do the ‘have-nots’ get their information today? As a ‘have-a-lot’, it’s hard to even imagine how I’d find a good restaurant, pay my bills, continue my education and remain employed without the Internet. I’m one of those pitiful people who loses touch with friends simply because the friend has no email address.

But isn’t it Interesting that the ‘haves’, ‘have-nots’ as well as the ‘have-a-lots’ all need our libraries. The ‘have-nots’ rely on the library for the print version of information the rest of us have become accustomed to acquiring electronically. The ‘haves’ rely on the libraries for high-speed access (among other things). And the ‘have-a-lots’ rely on the libraries as just one more access point to the Internet as they frenetically move around the world (oh and their kids probably actually check out physical books too).

The library really is the center of the Universe.