ABSTRACT

In the fall and winter of 2020, New America embarked on a snapshot study to gather data on how – or if – people were discovering, accessing, and using their public libraries during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on materials that libraries made available online. A full report on our findings, titled Public Libraries and the Pandemic: Digital Shifts and Disparities to Overcome, was published in March 2021. This article draws heavily from that report and also includes a policy update related to passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in the Fall of 2021. Analyzing data from a national survey in Fall 2020 of 2,620 people, we found mixed awareness of the public library’s online resources, a shift toward online resources, mostly positive attitudes toward the public library and its online resources, and disparities in access to and use of the public library’s online resources. This article also describes one library’s creation of a digital navigator program to support digital literacy as an example of how to overcome some of these disparities. We conclude with specific recommendations for improving inclusivity, helping community members gain affordable internet access at home so they can use their library’s online materials, and building awareness of library offerings via local organizations and schools. The aim is to leverage the lessons of the pandemic to help libraries launch more equitable ecosystems of learning across communities, providing access to knowledge, resources, and training, online and off.

摘要

2020 年秋冬，New America 开展了一项快照研究，以收集关于人们在 COVID-19 大流行期间如何（或是否）发现、访问和使用公共图书馆的数据，重点是图书馆制作的资料在线提供。关于我们调查结果的完整报告，标题为公共图书馆和大流行病：需要克服的数字化转变和差异，发表于 2021 年 3 月。本文大量借鉴该报告，还包括与 2021 年秋季通过基础设施投资和就业法案相关的政策更新。分析 2020 年秋季对 2,620 人进行的全国调查的数据，我们发现对公共图书馆在线资源的认识参差不齐，转向在线资源，对公共图书馆及其在线资源的态度大多是积极的，以及在访问和使用公共图书馆在线资源方面存在差异。本文还描述了一个图书馆为支持数字素养而创建的数字导航程序，以此作为如何克服其中一些差异的示例。最后，我们提出了提高包容性的具体建议，帮助社区成员在家中获得负担得起的互联网访问权限，以便他们可以使用图书馆的在线资料，并通过当地组织和学校建立对图书馆服务的认识。其目的是利用大流行病的经验教训，帮助图书馆建立更公平的跨社区学习生态系统，提供在线和离线获取知识、资源和培训的途径。