ALA joins national campaign to close digital divide

Contact: Frank DiFulvio


202-628-8410

ALA News Release


For Immediate Release


April 2001

ALA joins national campaign to close digital divide

New PSA targets junior high school students

The American Library Association (ALA) and a unique coalition of libraries, foundations, nonprofit organizations and media and Internet companies have launched the ConnectNet/Conectado campaign - the most comprehensive national campaign to help bridge the digital divide. This multi-faceted public education effort is designed to help minority and low-income youth gain free or low-cost access to computers and the Internet in their own neighborhoods.

ConnectNet/Conectado includes:

• The largest Internet directory ever created that guides young people to locations where public Internet access is available, including more than 20,000 libraries and technology centers across the country. Librarians will be trained to use the directory to help young people find free and low-cost sites near them. It was created by the AOL Time Warner Foundation and the Digital Divide Network, facilitated by the Benton Foundation.
• A toll-free phone number (1-866-583-1234) and Web sites (
  www.ConnectNet.org and
  www.conectado.org). Teens can call or visit the Web sites to get English- or Spanish-language information about computer centers in their neighborhoods.
• Fun and engaging public service announcements (PSAs) in Spanish and English to encourage minority teens to become computer-literate. The spots, which target children between the 6th and 10th grades who live in underserved communities, publicize the toll-free number and Web sites.
• A teen-friendly brochure on the
  ConnectNet/Conectado campaign and the importance of being computer-savvy. It will be distributed to teens by local libraries, civil rights groups and youth centers. "As the means of accessing information continue to change and we incrementally gravitate from a print to a digital information society, many of us in more affluent communities take for granted the kind of access we have to information and educational resources, simply because we have the financial means to afford a home computer and Internet access," said ALA Washington Office Executive Director Emily Sheketoff.

  "The purpose of this PSA is to introduce children who may not even think they need to get online to both the power and possibility the Internet can provide to them and their community."

  Kaiser Family Foundation produced the PSAs. "These are not your mother's PSAs," said Foundation Senior Vice President Steve Rabin. "These PSAs don't lecture, cajole or talk down to young people. Instead, we use tongue-in-cheek humor to offer them practical information they can use."

  ABC, NBC, Turner Entertainment Network's Superstation and TBS 17, the WB and BET have agreed to run the English-language PSA. This PSA also will run on Time Warner Cable systems nationwide. The Spanish-language spot will air exclusively on Univision.

  Libraries are moving quickly to transform themselves into high-tech learning centers. More than 95 percent of public libraries now provide Internet access, along with instructional computer training, to help provide their users with the skills and knowledge they need to effectively use the Internet in a safe and responsible manner.

  "For as long as libraries have existed, librarians have helped people in their communities find and use information," said ALA President Nancy Kranich. "Today librarians play a pivotal role in making sure people of every race, locale and economic background have the opportunity to become computer-literate. Librarians are proud to be part of the
  ConnectNet/Conectado launch and look forward to helping kids navigate the Web at their libraries."

  The
  ConnectNet/Conectado coalition includes: the ALA, the Kaiser Family Foundation, AOL Time Warner Foundation, Benton Foundation, Digital Divide Network, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights/Leadership Conference Education Fund, PowerUP and Univision.

  For materials or more information on the campaign, contact Virginia Witt at the Kaiser Family Foundation, 650-854-9400.