Nicol Turner-Lee
Nicol Turner-Lee, Fellow, Brooking’s Center for Technology Innovation and Author of a forthcoming book, Digitally Invisible: How the Internet is Creating the New Underclass, gave an inspiring keynote address to open the second day of CIL2019. She believes in the power of libraries. When we think about our seamless activity and online engagement, it is easy because we have the devices, which are the tools to be digitally proficient and engaged. But if we go to some rural areas, we will see a very different situation. Life was different when we grew up: we went outside and played ball! Our engagement was different: our activities then did not determine if we got a job or not.
What does the digital divide look like and what is the role of libraries? 13% of Americans are not adopters. They cannot afford to go online or they live where broadband is not available. There are also people who do not see the relevance of going online. Some of them are affected by the “homework gap” where young people do not have the resources to finish their homework. The people who are disconnected are under banked and not able to save money. How do we take the technology designed to solve social problems and apply it to people on the wrong side of the digital divide? When you live on the wrong side, you lose your right to make choices, save money, or drive. In a disruptive economy, there is a cost to exclusion. Digital access is not ubiquitous. In some places, there is a digital desert. Most of our conversations today are done online so many people do not know what is happening around them.
With AI and machine learning, computers will become smarter than us. We are the product of these new innovations. Our information is fueling technology. Your information is being shared to develop bigger and better applications. A static internet has become more transactional. What does that say about people that are not connected? One thing they have is a local library with computers. Libraries can bring access to America and are part of the conversation. A library is a better alternative than McDonalds for getting your homework done. (You don’t have to buy anything in a library!) Over 20 years ago, we partnered with libraries to build computer facilities. Libraries are a community institution; they create the infrastructure for people to get access. Now you can check out a wi-fi hotspot. Technology makes sense when we move to an online economy, which is why people come to libraries. Libraries have showed us what it means to evolve in a disruptive economy. They have evolved as technology has evolved and are the model for how technology can coexist in a disruptive economy.
Libraries allow us to engage with one another. When we were children, we went to them because they are a safe haven. Kids still come to them. A community suffers when a library closes. Some people sit in libraries to figure out what comes next in their lives, such as where they will get food and shelter, find a job, etc.
We must find ways to bring more resources to libraries so they can accommodate all the people that are coming to them. Libraries need more private-public partnerships. They are not just marginal players in the digital economy, but are representative of America’s democracy. They must continue to be the authentic voice of the people. They are the voice of the voiceless, so speak up! Get the word to policymakers that libraries matter in closing the digital divide. What is a community without a library?
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