Aug 13, 2024

Digital Navigators at California’s Public Libraries Help Bridge Broadband Divide

Once considered only a place to borrow books, libraries are emerging as a resource to educate Californians on how to navigate the Internet, providing access to employment and training opportunities, online services like telehealth, and much more. To ensure that library patrons can make the most of these opportunities, libraries also provide in-house digital navigators trained to assist patrons in getting online and acquiring necessary digital skills. However, one in five Californians lack high-speed broadband Internet access, giving them few chances outside of the library to practice these skills.

During CENIC’s 2024 Biennial Conference The Right Connection, a panel of experienced library and policy experts discussed the opportunities and challenges faced by digital navigators in expanding broadband access throughout the state.

“Digital navigators are your entry point to learning those things you didn’t know happened on the Internet,” Jarrid Keller, department director of support services at Sacramento Public Library, explained.

During the panel, library professionals discussed how, given budget restrictions, most staff members are being trained to serve as digital navigators and guide those seeking help. But with 184 library systems statewide, a wider protocol is lacking for how to approach digital literacy.

What’s Working: Lessons from the past and the pandemic

Tamara Broman, a senior information technology analyst at Sacramento Public Library, shared how the library has recently started taking in social work interns from local colleges. Those students work with patrons to assist them with everything from digital access to housing services.

“That’s something that I think has worked and I think has been pretty helpful,” she said. “One of the things we’ve heard from students who participated in the first cohort is that for some of them, it was the first time they felt they really had an opportunity to give back to their community.”

Meanwhile, Keller reflected back to the age when computers were first introduced and the world was learning to use things like Microsoft Office applications.

“We did an incredible job of providing classes all the time for our community,” he said. “And a lot of this was spurred on by [Microsoft founder Bill] Gates’ Edge Initiative, which was basically establishing core technical competencies for public libraries throughout the United States.”

He said while libraries were engrossed in that program–educating patrons on everything from how to use a mouse to how to use Excel–the initiative eventually lost steam as other initiatives took hold.

Then came COVID-19, bringing with it heightened demand for Internet service.

“As we all know, during the pandemic we had a portion of the population that for the first time had to engage with technology in order to participate in that environment,” Keller said. “And so we have been trying to play catchup to rebuild a lot of those classes and things that our community wanted.”

Offering a non-library perspective was Amy Hamblin, Policy Consultant at NextGen Policy, who as a policy advisor has spoken to a variety of people running digital navigator programs throughout California.

From a social worker perspective, Hamblin said digital navigator programs that have worked well have often involved professionals with a deep understanding of communities and how to help them. She referenced one program that trains refugees in the US, including California, while also having those refugees participate in outreach work in their communities.

“That has really worked really well and is, I think, changing how people think of [digital navigators] and who fills these roles,” Hamblin said.

What’s Not Working: The importance of flexibility

Given the vast network of libraries throughout California, there’s no universal solution to guiding patrons through the digital world, Keller said. Taking an across-the-board approach, he noted, has consequently fallen flat.

That’s because when libraries make the mistake of assuming communities are all at a certain level, classes might not resonate and patrons might not receive the help they need, Keller explained.

“Something that we've learned is that although we know our communities really well, if we take a one size fits all model, it doesn't always work especially when you're talking about issues of digital literacy, digital inclusion, and digital equity,” he said.

Hamblin touched on how some digital navigator models are either exclusively remote or in-person, failing to offer different options to suit user preferences.

“There are advantages to both, but things will break down because sometimes people have a very specific preference about how they want to be helped and served and in some cases, it's in person,” she said. “Part of it’s an age thing, but there's a whole variety of reasons why someone would much prefer in person–and sometimes it's the opposite.”

Ensuring digital navigation programs are well-advertised is another area that shouldn’t be overlooked, she said.

“We're trying to do more and more marketing around what services we have,” Hamblin said. “And then also just being really proactive and going out into the community and making ourselves available at places that people already go.”

Taking Access Further: Distributing Wi-Fi hotspots

Beyond teaching patrons how to use the Internet, Broman shared how government funding helped ensure they had access to it. She said the City of Sacramento once gave the library 1,000 Wi-Fi hot spots to distribute to local residents who did not have Internet access. The library’s efforts also benefited from the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF), which bankrolled the use of an additional 800 hot spots. (However, the ECF program ended on June 30, 2024.)

Another challenge, Broman said, has been getting ECF hotspots returned to the library once they’ve been loaned out to patrons.

“We’re going to face some struggles there because it is a very expensive program,” Broman said. “That program has been a little bit rough on us and is still a little bit rough on us, and it is challenging due to the fact that ECF funding is ending.”

Keller added that given the challenges of providing connectivity in Sacramento County, the library has become the de facto internet provider for those who can’t secure at-home Internet connections.

“And so the library turns out to be the place where they're all huddled around to get connectivity,” he said. “The struggle is very real, especially in the rural, but also in the urban and suburban areas.”

In such circumstances, he said the library never seems to have enough hotspots to loan out, with hundreds of people placing holds for the devices. Within the Sacramento Public Library system, hotspots are checked out for six-week increments although users often keep them longer, he said.

The hotspot program’s popularity, he said, demonstrates that there’s a clear need for Internet service.

“They’re very valuable to our community,” he said. “So, yes, I would like to see these [hotspot] programs continue.”

While libraries are typically the top access spot for Californians without broadband at home, many anchor institutions, be they research and education segments or not, find themselves in the position of functioning as digital navigators for their communities. Thus the lessons discussed by the Sacramento Public Library’s Keller and Broman, as well as the policy advice offered by Hamblin, are valuable to everyone. We’ll be sure to keep our community up to date on any innovations and opportunities related to empowering all Californians to become full digital citizens.

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