Community Connect: Project Guidelines
Application posted: July 6, 2020
Application receipt deadline: August 26, 2020
Award notification: September 30, 2020
Questions? Contact the American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office at 1-800-545-2433, ext. 5045, or publicprograms@ala.org.
Digital access is critical to connecting rural communities to opportunity and vital services. Data from the Federal Communications Commission reveals that 22% of Americans in rural areas and 28% of Americans living on tribal lands lack broadband coverage. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has made evident that broadband connectivity is an essential element of a community’s infrastructure. People across the country are increasingly reliant on broadband for the delivery of essential services like education and tele-medicine.
ALA and Capital One are launching the Community Connect: Digital Access at Home pilot to elevate the stark need for additional investment in broadband for rural areas. Capital One recognizes that digital access is a lever that has the potential to unlock opportunities for education, entrepreneurship, and employment, as well as increased connections to health, financial well-being, and other services that are increasingly only accessible online. Rural libraries in particular provide an important nexus for learning and connectivity in their communities.
This pilot project aims to document broadband usage and build consensus for the critical need of broadband and digital access in rural communities across the U.S. In addition to broadband, Community Connect will support remote learning and work, income-generating and financial-management opportunities, and access to health services.
Table of Contents
I. Project Overview
II. Award Information
III. Eligibility
IV. Application and Submission Information
V. Application Review
VI. Award Administration Information
VII. Contact Us
I. Project Overview
In partnership with Capital One, the ALA Public Programs Office is seeking applicants to participate in Community Connect. This program will provide 20 rural* public libraries (or libraries that serve as a community’s public library) with a resource package to support digital access and financial capability during a two-year library program implementation period. Selected libraries will receive five Wi-Fi hotspots (including service contract) for lending to patrons; curated book lists and professional development resources on hotspot lending, personal finance programming and more; plus a $2,000 stipend to support implementing financial capability programs.
The goals of this initiative are to:
- expand service capacity of rural libraries by offering hotspot lending policies and financial capability seminars
- improve the digital access of rural library patrons via hotspots and enhance opportunities for social mobility by pursuing remote education, economic inclusion, financial management and health
- demonstrate the efficacy of the pilot program and use results to build consensus on how to address sustainable digital inclusion for rural communities
*The Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) defines a rural community as one that is more than, or equal to, five miles from an urbanized area and a small community to be libraries with a legal service area population of 25,000 or less.
Selected Public Libraries Will Receive
- Five Verizon Wi-Fi hotspots with two-year contracts and service for lending to patrons.
- Professional development resources including Ready, Set, Bank, a turnkey curriculum that uses a series of micro learning videos to teach community members about online banking, money management and online security; assets and resources on hotspot-lending best practices produced by the Public Library Association (PLA); and additional financial capability resources from ALA. These materials will be presented in two recorded training webinars for library staff to watch when schedules allow.
- The first webinar will include how to set up the hotspots and add them to circulation; troubleshooting; setting up a library policy for lending them; project evaluation and patron surveys; and a general overview of all the resources available to selected libraries to support programming.
- The second webinar will focus on how to use the Ready, Set, Bank resources, including content on Digital Basics and Money Management, the online courses for the public and how to use the Ready, Set Bank toolkits to implement a four-part workshop series at the library or virtually, if needed.
- Curated book lists of financial capability titles featured in ALA’s Financial Capability LibGuide, other ALA resources to support library programming needs and the full suite of Ready, Set, Bank workshop materials.
- A copy of ALA Editions’ Rainy Day Ready: Programs and Tools for Developing Financial Capability.
- $2,000 stipend to cover costs associated with implementing the required workshops, such as hiring a workshop facilitator, providing refreshments or purchasing books recommended in the LibGuide.
- Access to a listserv for participating library staff to ask questions, share expertise, offer advice and engage in peer sharing and learning.
Requirements for Selected Sites
All selected public libraries are required to do the following:
- Sign a contract with ALA agreeing to programming, publicity, evaluation, reporting and other project requirements.
- Participate in both training webinars.
- Create and implement a hotspot lending policy, if one is not already in place.
- Lend hotspots to patrons, per the lending policy, for two years.
- Present a minimum of four public Ready, Set, Bank workshops for library patrons open to young adults through seniors, on topics such as the benefits of online banking, online banking safety and security, or getting started with online banking. Libraries can use the programming stipend to hire a local facilitator such as a high school teacher, community college instructor or other noncommercial expert to lead the workshop series. To ensure that all programming is strictly noncommercial, the public programs may not be offered in conjunction with financial services firms, including banks, investment advisers and brokerage firms.
- Promote the programs in the community.
- Allow the public to attend programs free of charge.
- Create a display on financial capability featuring books and other financial capability resources from the FDIC, IRS, FTC and CFPB, and non-branded Ready, Set, Bank resources. Libraries can use some of the programming stipend to cover costs of adding new titles from ALA’s LibGuide to their collection.
- Participate in reporting and evaluation.
- Appoint one staff member as the Project Director. The Project Director is responsible for participating in trainings, overseeing programming and promotions.
- Agree to all publicity requirements, including use of designated exhibition credits and/or logos on all local publicity materials, both print and online.
Evaluation
The Community Connect program will include a formal evaluation of the implementation and impact of this program. Libraries who receive this grant award will be required to work collaboratively with our third-party evaluation partners to do the following:
- Track program attendance and hotspot distribution
- Implement pre- and post-surveys for both library staff and program participants
- Track circulation of personal finance collections within the library
- Potential interviews with the third-party evaluation team
- Identify program participants for potential interviews by the third-party evaluation team
Attendance, surveys and interviews will help ALA learn about its impact and improve this program in the future. Key questions that will guide this evaluation are the following:
- How was the program implemented?
- What was the impact of this program? How did hotspots and/or financial capability programs support participants to use online banking resources? Other important online resources?
- How can this program be improved? ALA and the third-party evaluation team will work in partnership with selected libraries and support them throughout the evaluation process.
II. Award Information
Twenty public libraries will be selected to participate in this program from 2021-2022.
III. Eligibility
Community Connect is available to rural public libraries in the United States. The Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) defines a rural community as one that is more than, or equal to, five miles from an urbanized area and a small community to be libraries with a legal service area population of 25,000 or less. Individuals and federal entities are not eligible to apply.
IV. Application and Submission Information
Applications will be accepted July 6 – August 26, 2020. Applications must be submitted online by 11:59 p.m. Central Standard Time on August 26. Late or incomplete applications, and applications from ineligible institutions, will not be reviewed. Applications and support materials may not be submitted by mail or e-mail.
To begin the application process, click here. You can download a PDF of the application to review the questions ahead of time in order to prepare your answers.
V. Application Review
Each eligible application will be assessed by a review panel of librarian peer reviewers, Capital One Bank staff and ALA staff. Applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
- Clarity and completeness of the application. Has the applicant supplied all required information, including all sections of the proposal narrative?
- The involvement of appropriate programming partners.
- Demonstrated need for a program of this nature in their community.
- Ability to carry out a successful series of programs and hotspot lending.
- The quality of the marketing and outreach plans and the likelihood of engaging the target audiences.
The panel will also take geographic and demographic distribution into consideration when selecting awardees.
VI. Award Administration Information
Application Deadline: August 26, 2020
Award Notification: September 30, 2020
VII. Contact Us
If you have questions about the exhibition or the application, contact:
American Library Association Public Programs Office
800-545-2433, ext. 5045