Digital Bridge: Providing digital access to low-income job seekers during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Young person wearing a yellow shirt, jeans, boots, a medical face mask and a backpack sitting on exterior concrete steps typing on a laptop

October 13, 2021

The digital divide has long been recognized as a factor contributing to the economic marginalization of low-income communities, particularly Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color (BIPOC communities).1–7 The pandemic transformed the digital divide from a long-simmering issue to an immediate crisis as schools, training programs, and essential services rapidly moved from in-person to virtual…

Public Libraries as Platforms for Civic Engagement

May 4, 2021

What role should the world’s public libraries have in civic engagement? In recent years, traditional media have weakened, the civic space has become increasingly divisive, and society has become ever more divided socially, economically and politically, yet public libraries have stood strong. They have long fulfilled a vital need for communal spaces where people can…