In connection with this piece from ALA you might want to look at <br><h2 style="font-weight:normal"><font>"Calling School Librarians to Action! Another Attempt to Undermine Our Jobs" <a href="http://informania.wordpress.com/2012/05/30/calling-school-librarians-to-action-another-attempt-to-undermine-our-jobs/">http://informania.wordpress.com/2012/05/30/calling-school-librarians-to-action-another-attempt-to-undermine-our-jobs/</a></font></h2>
----------------------------<br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Jun 4, 2012 at 3:05 PM, Diedre Conkling <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:diedre08@gmail.com" target="_blank">diedre08@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><a href="http://www.districtdispatch.org/2012/05/ala-wastes-no-time-our-work-on-digital-literacy/" target="_blank">http://www.districtdispatch.org/2012/05/ala-wastes-no-time-our-work-on-digital-literacy/</a><br>
<br><h1>
ALA Wastes No Time – Our Work on Digital Literacy</h1>
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<span>Posted on</span> <a href="http://www.districtdispatch.org/2012/05/ala-wastes-no-time-our-work-on-digital-literacy/" title="3:40 pm" rel="bookmark" target="_blank"><span>May 31, 2012</span></a> <span><span>by</span> <span><a href="http://www.districtdispatch.org/author/jroberts/" title="View all posts by Jacob Roberts" rel="author" target="_blank">Jacob Roberts</a></span> </span><span><span>|</span><a href="http://www.districtdispatch.org/2012/05/ala-wastes-no-time-our-work-on-digital-literacy/#respond" title="Comment on ALA Wastes No Time – Our Work on Digital Literacy" target="_blank"></a></span>
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<p>Since the <i>New York Times</i> article “<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/30/us/new-digital-divide-seen-in-wasting-time-online.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1" target="_blank">Wasting Time is New Digital Divide</a>”
posted on May 29, 2012, we’ve been getting a number of questions along
the lines of, “Hey, so is ALA working with the FCC on the digital
literacy corps?” We thought it a good idea to give a little primer on
exactly what ALA has been doing on digital literacy.</p>
<p>Our involvement actually started way back when the FCC was collecting
information to create the National Broadband Plan (NBP), the FCC plan
which deals with improving broadband Internet access throughout the
United States. We <a href="http://www.districtdispatch.org/2009/12/ala-submits-comments-to-fcc-on-national-broadband-plan-barriers-to-adoption/" target="_blank">submitted comments</a>
to several public notices, including one asking questions about
broadband adoption. We also worked with the Social Science Research
Council, which was commissioned to research <a href="http://www.ssrc.org/publications/view/1EB76F62-C720-DF11-9D32-001CC477EC70/" target="_blank">broadband adoption</a> in low-income communities, to put them in touch with libraries in their target areas. The <a href="http://www.broadband.gov/plan/9-adoption-and-utilization/#s9-3" target="_blank">NBP</a>
made a number of recommendations related to improving broadband
adoption, taking into consideration identified barriers of cost,
availability, relevancy, and digital literacy. One of the
recommendations was to create a digital literacy corps after the
AmeriCorps model. To date, this has not been pursued.</p>
<p>Since the release of the NBP, the ALA Office for Information
Technology Policy has stayed involved with both the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NITA) and the FCC as
both agencies have begun implementing recommendations made in the NBP.
Among these were the creation of the <a href="http://www.digitalliteracy.gov/" target="_blank">digitalliteracy.gov</a> portal last spring and the launching of the <a href="http://www.connect2compete.org/" target="_blank">Connect 2 Compete</a> initiative last fall.</p>
<p>To the issue brought out in the <i>Times </i>article, ALA <a href="http://www.districtdispatch.org/2012/04/ala-supports-fcc-proposal-to-fund-digital-literacy-training-through-public-libraries/" target="_blank">submitted comments</a>
to the FCC’s Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) on a
proposal to fund digital literacy training through libraries and schools
using savings realized from Lifeline program reforms. The FCC proposes
to fund formal digital literacy training at $50 million per year over
four years. This proceeding is ongoing, though the comment period is
closed.</p>
<p>ALA continues to advocate for libraries in this proceeding, knowing that libraries offer a formidable “<a href="http://www.districtdispatch.org/2012/03/oitp-outlines-library-triple-play-for-digital-literacy/" target="_blank">triple play</a>” of assets to support learners in gaining the digital skills necessary to thrive online.</p>
<p>Larra Clark and Marijke Visser<br>
OITP</p><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div><i><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS";font-size:10pt">Diedre Conkling</span></i><i><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS";font-size:10pt"><br>
<i><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS"">Lincoln County Library District</span></i><br>
<i><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS"">P.O. Box 2027</span></i><br><i><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS"">Newport, OR 97365</span></i><br><i><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS"">Phone & Fax: <a href="tel:541-265-3066" value="+15412653066" target="_blank">541-265-3066</a></span></i><br>
<i><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS"">Work email</span></i></span></i><i><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS";font-size:10pt;font-style:normal">: </span></i><a href="mailto:diedre@lincolncolibrarydist.org" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS";font-size:10pt"><font color="#0000ff">diedre@lincolncolibrarydist.org</font></span></i></a><i><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS";font-size:10pt"><br>
<i><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS"">Home email: </span></i></span></i><a href="mailto:diedre08@gmail.com" target="_blank"><i><span style="color:blue;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";font-size:10pt">diedre08@gmail.com</span></i></a></div>
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<h6>
<span>“If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.”―Maya Angelou</span><span></span></h6><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS";font-size:10pt"></span></div><br>
</font></span></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div><i><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS";font-size:10pt">Diedre Conkling</span></i><i><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS";font-size:10pt"><br>
<i><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS"">Lincoln County Library District</span></i><br><i><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS"">P.O. Box 2027</span></i><br><i><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS"">Newport, OR 97365</span></i><br>
<i><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS"">Phone & Fax: 541-265-3066</span></i><br><i><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS"">Work email</span></i></span></i><i><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS";font-size:10pt;font-style:normal">: </span></i><a href="mailto:diedre@lincolncolibrarydist.org" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS";font-size:10pt"><font color="#0000ff">diedre@lincolncolibrarydist.org</font></span></i></a><i><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS";font-size:10pt"><br>
<i><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS"">Home email: </span></i></span></i><a href="mailto:diedre08@gmail.com" target="_blank"><i><span style="color:blue;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";font-size:10pt">diedre08@gmail.com</span></i></a></div>
<div> </div>
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<h6>
<span>“If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.”―Maya Angelou</span><span></span></h6><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS";font-size:10pt"></span></div><br>