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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">FYI.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif"> ARSL_MEMBERSHIPOn Behalf OfBrian Real<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, July 31, 2017 5:16:38 PM (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)<br>
<b>To:</b> </span><a href="mailto:arsl_membership@cvl-lists.org"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">arsl_membership@cvl-lists.org</span></a><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif"><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [ARSL_MEMBERSHIP] New ALA Report on Rural Public Libraries</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Hello everyone, <o:p>
</o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">ALA just released a new report I co-wrote entitled
<i>Rural Libraries in the United States: Recent Strides, Future Possibilities, and Meeting Community Needs</i>. A blog post from the ALA Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP) is at
</span><a href="http://www.districtdispatch.org/2017/07/new-report-explores-rural-library-technology-access/"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">this link</span></a><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">, and the report itself
can be found at </span><a href="http://www.ala.org/advocacy/sites/ala.org.advocacy/files/content/pdfs/Rural%20paper%2007-31-2017.pdf"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">this link</span></a><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Some key points are that libraries tend to have less resources when they are further from urban centers, technological infrastructure has improved greatly for rural libraries but still needs to be
an area of focus, and there needs to be more advocacy for better state and regional support systems. I know that most of us in the field already intuitively know some of the basic ideas behind much of what the report has to say, but I hope that having precise
numbers and ideas in writing will be useful for you in advocating for your libraries' needs.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Best,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Brian Real<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">--------------<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Public Services Librarian<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Calvert Library, Fairview Branch<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">--------------<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">PhD, Information Studies<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">University of Maryland iSchool<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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