A view from Cuyahoga County Public Library

While the transition from an analog to a digital age has been apparent, we might not have realized how quickly our world would change. Now, especially for those in public service, we need new models to catch up with the demands and challenges of a digitally-driven social and economic environment.

At Cuyahoga County Public Library (CCPL), we started down this path early, due to our connectivity, since 2003, empowered by an ultra-broadband network in and around Cleveland. It remains one of the most advanced in the nation for mass distribution of images, sound and information over the Internet.

One thing we’ve learned at CCPL is that with limited financial resources, we must leverage available assets through effective collaboration. We hope our experience and lessons we’ve learned can be of value to other communities. Here are a couple of the key points we can share about the role of public libraries as a catalyst for improved social and educational services to people of all ages:

• Libraries indeed play a role in overcoming the digital divide, by providing Internet access to the public as well as support services. But that’s not all. Libraries are also uniquely positioned to offer Internet-dependent services to everyone. Our experience at Cuyahoga County Public Library (CCPL) is that by connecting to academic and cultural institutions, we’ve introduced a new approach to learning that brings new educational, job training and social opportunities to all.

• Instead of overbuilding fiber infrastructure, libraries can serve as the hub for taking Internet connections to schools, community centers, legal clinics, healthcare facilities, churches, and other places. One approach, to cut down on the high cost of laying fiber, is to allow Internet service to be delivered via radio waves.

By drawing on Greater Cleveland’s existing fiber network, and extending its reach through creative approaches, CCPL now relies on broadband as a way to advance its top priorities, including reading readiness for young children, supplemental programming for school-age children, job training for unemployed workers, services for new Americans and programs to keep older adults happy, healthy and independent.

An example is our summer camp program. In one offering, called Shipwrecks Camp, for 12- to 15-year-olds, kids experience underwater exploration, via Internet, with Titanic discoverer Dr. Robert Ballard. The program also receives support from the Center for Science and Mathematics Education at Case Western Reserve University and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources-Cleveland Lakefront State Park. Shipwrecks Camp drew 589 participants in 2008, having doubled in size in only two years. It is positioned for further expansion this summer.

Another example, involving similar collaboration, is a program that brings arts programs to neighborhoods via broadband. Older adults, especially, can participate in tours of the Cleveland Museum of Art, or see shows from Cleveland’s Playhouse Square, via interactive connections from their local libraries.

At CCPL, the need for high-speed communications is constant for us. It’s also constant for anyone who wants to participate fully in the social, economic and educational opportunities of the future.

Libraries can be part of the solution, both as a hub for the delivery of Internet service, and also as a catalyst for bringing community organizations together to offer previously unimagined opportunities to all.

Sari Feldman is executive director of the Cuyahoga County Public Library and president-elect of the Public Library Association, which is a division of the American Library Association.