Resources & Tools for Libraries
Getting Started
Use these resources to support your digital equity work and promote your library within your local digital equity system.
To learn more about the status of federal funding programs visit our Digital Equity Resources page.
Supporting Digital Skills
Tools to support building digital skills
- PLA: DigitalLearn
- ALA: Serving Patrons with Disabilities in Small and Rural Libraries: Practitioner's Guide
- NCDIT: North Carolina Digital Skills Standards
- DigitalLIFT: Teach Online Safety
- Digital Skills Library
- Good Community Foundation: Global Learning
- NDIA: Digital Inclusion Bytes: Digital Skills – Using frameworks and skill lists
- OATS: Aging Connected 2025 Findings, Insights and Implications
- NDIA: Digital Navigator Model
- NDIA: Digital Navigator Toolkit
Supporting Home Broadband Adoption
Resources to support broadband adoption.
Understand Your Digital Equity Ecosystem
Use these tools to learn more about your community, identify existing resources and services gaps, and plan for future work.
- PEW: To Improve Broadband Deployment, Enhanced Data Collection is Key
- ALA: Census Data Literacy
- ALA: National Data About Public Libraries
- NDIA: Asset Mapping for Digital Inclusion
- ACRL: Benchmark: Library Metrics and Trends
- NDIA: The Digital Inclusion Start Up Manual
- Toward Gigabit Libraries Toolkit and Introductory Video.
Promote Your Library
Use these resources to help promote and position your library’s resources and services within your community's digital equity ecosystem.
- Benton: Investing in the Human Infrastructure of Broadband: Report and Case Studies
- ALA & PLA: Digital Equity Resources for Public Libraries
- ALA: Policy Brief: Digital Equity and America’s Libraries
- ALA: Leveraging Libraries to Achieve Historic Progress Towards Digital Equity for All
- ALA: Executive Summary
- ALA: Leverage Federal Funds to Advance Digital Equity in Your Community
- IMLS: IMLS Building Digital Communities: A Framework for Action
- NDIA: Digital Inclusion Coalition Guidebook
- NDIA and NYSL: Digital Inclusion Toolkit
- PLA: 2023 Public Library Technology Survey Report
Creating Partnerships and Coalitions
Use these tools to reach out to and explore potential partnerships to advance digital equity in your community.
Assessment and Evaluation
Tools to help you measure program effectiveness and project outcomes.
Connect with Others
Reach out to local, state and national organizations that support and promote digital equity.
- ALA: State E-Rate Coordinators
- ALA: Digital Inclusion Working Group
- State Broadband Leaders Network
- Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA): Find the top library officials in your state.
Digital Equity at the State Level
As of May 8th, 2025, the Digital Equity Act (DEA) was canceled. Through the Digital Equity Act planning process communities across the country learned a lot. As litigation moves through the courts, some states are moving forward with parts of their State Digital Equity Plans without the federal government. Use our interactive map to explore the ways each state was planning to meet the digital equity needs of their communities. Visit your state broadband office website for additional updates on how your state is moving forward.
Learn More
Learn more from other partners:
Staff Contacts
Megan Janicki
Deputy Director, Public Policy & Advocacy
mjanicki@alawash.org
Emily Durkin
Manager, Public Policy & Advocacy
edurkin@alawash.org
