As a hub of the Red Hook community, the Red Hook Public Library has seen up close the problems of inadequate internet access in the community. The RHPL explained: “The digital divide isn't just a phrase sociologists and politicians throw around. It’s school children unable to attend class regularly; it’s senior citizens disconnected from their families; it’s small business owners struggling to adapt to the changed marketplace.” The RHPL identified three major obstacles Red Hook residents face when it comes to digital equity: education, cost, and location. They will tackle this obstacles by expanding the library’s circulating devices and hotspots collection, creating a paid position of Digital Access Specialist, and by boosting the library’s internet service such that it can be used as a public wifi access point. The Ascienzo Family Foundation provided a grant of $25,000, over two years, so that the RHPL can accomplish this impressive plan. As the RHPL put it, “public libraries exist to democratize information; addressing the gaps a lack of internet access creates in a community is fundamental to a public library’s mission.”
Read more about our work with the Red Hook Public Library here and here!