CFE has produced a report on behalf of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) to highlight the role of public libraries in opening up free online access and providing support to help people get online.
The report 'Role of public libraries in supporting and promoting digital participation' has highlighted the extent free internet access is available to the public in libraries throughout England, during the day, in the evening and at weekends. The research, conducted by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) and analysed by CFE highlights the crucial role public libraries play in supporting the delivery of the national digital priorities set out by the Government and the Digital Champion, Martha Lane Fox.
The report confirmed that 79% of library services in English Local Authorities do not charge for internet access at all and a further 12% do not make any charge for the first hour (91% in total). Nearly all Local Authorities (98%) provide access in the evening and at weekends with over half (59%) providing internet access on Sundays.
Nearly three-quarters (72%) of library services have provided digital training to their frontline staff to support them in their core role of providing both one-to-one and group support to library users to help them get online.
People are also supported to get online in libraries to improve their employability - 86% of library services report that they provide support to the unemployed to get online with 76% supporting online job-searches, 71% supporting through CV writing and 63% offering short courses that help the unemployed their ICT skills.
The MLA press release on the launch of the report can 'Libraries bridge the digital divide' can be found here.
The full report ‘Role of public libraries in supporting and promoting digital participation’ can be found here. January 2010