Congratulations to William E. Laupus Health Sciences Library!

Posted by fsteele on August 31st, 2022 Posted in: Uncategorized

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Congratulations to the library faculty and staff at William E. Laupus Health Sciences Library at East Carolina University (ECU)! Their proposal, “A library-centered applied research program to advance digital equity for farmworkers in North Carolina,” was selected by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for funding over the next three years.

Over the course of this period, project team members from ECU and North Carolina State University will gather data, provide educational experiences, and develop applied research on digital equity in rural agricultural settings. The research will provide information to support policy change that advances digital equity, ensure the inclusion of agricultural workers in broadband infrastructure and information literacy, and inform how libraries lead digital inclusion efforts across the United States.

The project first hopes to assess how many farmworkers have internet access in their homes and its costs. The second aim is to assess farmers and farmworkers digital literacy skills to inform future programming. The third aim is to see how public libraries are provide broadband and internet access to rural communities. The grant hopes to identify how farmworkers are included in county digital equity plans.

The NNLM looks forward to the success of this project and identify reproducibility in other rural communities.

 

This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services LG-2523510OLS-22