Gates Foundation expands U.S. libraries initiative

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced a new five-year commitment to its U.S. Libraries Initiative, which helps public libraries in low-income communities keep up with advancements in information technology. The Gates Foundation first began to partner with libraries in 1997 to try to ensure that anyone with access to a public library would in turn have access to the Internet. While this goal has largely been met, the foundation said, libraries in low-income areas have a difficult time maintaining and upgrading their tech facilities.

The new commitment has a fourfold objective: to help more libraries regularly upgrade their computer equipment; to raise the percentage of U.S. libraries that offer high-speed Internet connections; to provide training and technical support to library staff; and to provide advocacy training and offer research about the benefits of library tech so that libraries can work toward continued funding of computers and connectivity. The Gates Foundation, created by the Microsoft co-founder and his wife, also has a Global Libraries Initiative for tech facilities in developing countries. That project was also recently expanded, with $328 million in grants announced in early December. To date, the Gates Foundation has invested $325 million in U.S. public libraries, but no figures were provided for the new commitment.

[Stating]

Have You Visited A Library Lately?

Walk into any library after school and you will see a bunch of bright, engaged kids studying, learning, and yes, entertaining themselves. Money spent to fund libraries is one of the best things we can do as a society.

Your self-righteous railing against porn'n'predator access in libraries smacks of your own guilty, tortured existence. Reminds me of Pat Robertson's obession with armageddon.

[Lucky Lou]

5th goal: Spread Windows OS

Wow, a new initiative to make sure Windows OS is in every library.
This is just like Microsoft's program of donating computers to
schools - get them hooked while they are young. Do you think
there's any provision in the grants to analyze for the best OS to use
in the given environments, or is it just going to be Windows as a
default or even requirement?

[jabbotts]

it's what is expected but let's hope

It would show a degree of good will to see the Gate's foundation support a tech initiative without recommending Windows as the system OS. Being that it's the founding father of Microsoft and they are likely to get the best license and support deal/tax-writoff with Windows; it's to be expected.

The real challenge would be seeing Libraries respond with "sure, we'd love for you to help. Here's our book and tech goals. We already have a system in place but we'd love to grow it if you can work with FOSS."

[SiXiam]

Better Spent in the U.S. then Africa...

I would rather see Billy Gates spend his money in the USA then in Africa or some other third world slum, that doesn't even have a reliable goverment..... or should I say crime sydicate...

[jabbotts]

long as your comfortable right?

The 9% of the world that you live in has a bed, a room to put it in and clean water; why try to help anyone else right?

I'm actually glad to hear that they are working in both places; third world countries need basic necessities of life and systems to continue supporting themselves while the US needs much improvment in education and access to information.