The Important Role Libraries Play in Digital Inclusion

Libraries in North Carolina, Delaware, and Oklahoma are teaching people to use AI and getting them online for the first time. Digital Inclusion Week, typically observed in early October, is a nationwide call to close the digital divide and celebrate the institutions doing that work.

The Digital Access Gap

Nearly four in ten adults in households earning less than $30,000 a year lack home broadband. One in four relies solely on a smartphone to get online, a share that has climbed since 2013, according to the Pew Research Center.

Geography compounds the gap. Only 64.4 percent of rural households have access to broadband at modern speeds, compared to 98.5 percent of urban households, according to analysis from the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. Roughly twelve million rural homes lack broadband service entirely. Millions more homes in urban and suburban areas have access to broadband but have not subscribed.

As the National Digital Inclusion Alliance puts it, the digital divide is the issue, digital equity is the goal, and digital inclusion is the work required to get there. Closing that gap looks different depending on where you live. Here is how three states are doing it.

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North Carolina: Preparing Libraries for the AI Era

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill recently launched a two-year statewide study called Local Libraries and Generative AI. Led by Diane Kelly of the School of Information and Library Science, in partnership with the State Library of North Carolina, the project will run through 2028.

The project will help libraries determine what AI education their patrons need most. That could mean hands-on instruction for visitors or helping staff answer basic questions about how the technology works. Rather than pushing libraries toward AI, the project gives them resources for people who need help with it.

According to Fatima Sail, an AI and Cisco Network Engineering teacher at New Hanover High School, librarians are becoming a “safeguard of human creativity,” helping people use AI tools responsibly while understanding their limitations and biases. Libraries have guided communities through new technology for generations without losing sight of critical thinking. That role is no different now.

Delaware: Turning Libraries Into Career Pathways

Delaware Libraries has been named a Tech Hub in a new partnership between the state and Google’s Grow with Google initiative, making library branches a primary access point for free Google Career Certificates in fields like AI, cybersecurity, and data analytics.

Nearly two-thirds of jobs created since 2010 require digital skills, yet one in three American workers report having very limited or no digital skills at all. More than four hundred thousand people in the United States have already completed a Google Career Certificate, and over 70 percent report a positive career impact within six months.

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Oklahoma: Closing the Gap One Library at a Time

Oklahoma has taken a different approach, becoming the first state in the nation to pursue digital equity through a statewide library partnership. The Oklahoma Broadband Office is investing $14.5 million to install community access portals—private pods with tablets and monitors—inside municipal libraries.

Forty libraries across thirty-two counties are already participating, with plans to reach 175 locations. For rural residents who might otherwise drive hours for a doctor’s appointment or job interview, the portals offer a local, no-cost alternative. As Oklahoma Broadband Office director Mike Sanders put it, libraries are trusted institutions uniquely positioned to deliver this kind of access.

A Common Mission

North Carolina, Delaware, and Oklahoma are tackling digital inclusion in different ways. Each relies on libraries as the trusted local institution to reach people where they are.

This kind of work depends on libraries having enough resources. Join EveryLibrary in advocating for library funding year-round.

Visit www.everylibrary.org to learn more about our work on behalf of libraries. 

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