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Posted August 19, 2005.

Bangladeshi Boat Libraries Earn 2005 Gates Award

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation presented its sixth annual Access to Learning Award August 15 to Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha, a nongovernmental organization in Bangladesh, for its pioneering approach to bridging the digital divide by providing free public access to computers and the internet. Through the use of indigenous boats converted into mobile libraries and schools, the group provides educational services, access to technology, and computer training to poor communities in a Northern Bangladesh watershed. The boats, which anchor at remote villages, rely on generators or solar energy and mobile phones for internet access.

“All our program activities are concentrated in and around the rivers using a familiar vehicle for people to approach technology. Our boat libraries are crucial to the progress of the villages along the river basins,” said Abul Hasanat Mohammed Rezwan, executive director of Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha and founder of the project.

“Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha is bringing technology to people most in need,” said Martha Choe, director of the Gates Foundation’s Global Libraries Program. “This organization’s perseverance and ingenuity is a testament to the value of and demand for public access computing throughout the world. Its efforts will have long-lasting impact for generations to come.”

The international award of $1 million, which is administered by the Council on Library and Information Resources, has previously gone to organizations in Finland, Guatemala, Argentina, Colombia, South Africa, Denmark, and China. The award was established to recognize and assist “an outstanding library, library agency, or similar organization that provides patrons with no-cost public access to information in innovative and useful ways.”

Posted August 19, 2005.