Digital Divisions interview with Ruth Lednicer (transcript after the bump):

Ruth Lednicer – CPL

Transcript:

RM: So I was wondering if you could give me an overview of the Cyber Navigators program and the other things that you’re doing.

RL: Sure. In terms of reaching people who don’t have access to computers at home we have done several things. The Cyber Navigators program is funded by the Chicago Public Library Foundation. Much of it through a million dollar grant we got from Bank of America. So it’s all private funds that’s being used and we hire college students to come in and work with the library personnel to teach patrons how to use the Internet. So whether it’s just someone who’s never learned through school or if it’s a senior citizen who’s never had an opportunity to learn, it’s a chance for them to come in and have someone show them and get them over their fear.

One of the things that the library has been focused on for several years now and especially through working with the [Bill and Melinda] Gates Foundation, is bridging the digital divide. And we are in every neighborhood, we’re in 79 locations across the city so we are in a really great position. So every public library location has free public Internet access through our computers.

RM: So how are the Cyber Navigators structured? Do they give classes to a bunch of people or do they work one-on-one?

RL: It’s one on one. It depends branch by branch, how that works. They’re there for certain hours and there are signs posted for when they are available.

RM: Where did the idea come from? What made you feel like you needed to start putting people in to help people use the computers?

RL: You know it was pretty organic. Once we started providing public access computers, people would come in and say ‘Well great there is a computer but I don’t know how to use it.’ So they were asking our staff to help and while our staff did what they could, they’re not trained to teach people how to use the Internet, and they’re pretty busy. So it made sense for use to hire people of college age because they’re going to know stuff about using the internet having done it most of their teens and school years. They’re much more comfortable with it.

RM: And as far as reservations for the computers, how popular is that? Do you have to sign up a day ahead of time, can you sign up 15 minutes ahead of time?

RL: It varies on the location, but most places it’s very popular. Obviously in some neighborhoods where not as many people have home computers, you have to sign up a day in advance. Other neighborhoods where more people have home computers it’s easier to get in, you can get a reservation an hour prior.

RM: I wanted to ask you about the CPL 2010 plan, and how this fits in?

RL: CPL 2010 is our second strategic plan. The last strategic plan was a five year plan which was really about the physical infrastructure of libraries, and realizing that we needed newer buildings, we needed buildings that we owned. Since 1989 we have built or fully renovated 52 libraries and what that does is allow us to setup a library in a way we know works for the patrons and the staff but it also allowed us to build buildings that had the wiring in them to allow us to offer all the technology.

Then the next step was to say ‘OK now that we’ve built it, what do we need to do inside the buildings,’ and that is what the CPL 2010 plan is. And a lot of that is around the resources that we have and especially the technology resources and bridging the digital divide.

RM: And then one other question I had: The phrase ‘digital divide’ is used often and refers to a great many different things. So I was wondering if you could try to define it as far as the CPL addresses it.

RL: I think as society moves forward, the ability to access information and resources online is really becoming one of the most fundamental things you need to succeed. And so therefore the divide between those people who can afford to have that within their home and those people who can’t … It makes that leap between those two groups of people even more. That gap is growing and the unfairness of it. And we see the library as the great leveling of the playing field. We always have. Anyone, no matter rich or poor, no matter what their standing in society, they can come in and access the same information.

Technology has made information available online; We are still playing the same role we did when it was just in books.