The net neutrality debate has heated up with the recent proposals from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to govern the flow of information on the Internet. What is net neutrality? It is not easy to find a simple definition. The best one I have come across is from the organization Save the Internet (www.savetheinternet.com): “Net Neutrality simply means no discrimination. Net Neutrality prevents Internet providers from blocking, speeding up or slowing down Web content based on its source, ownership or destination.”
This debate is interesting because it calls into question the very nature of the Internet and there are so many powerful players on both sides of the issue. On one side you’ve got the big content providers like Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Ebay, and Amazon. On the other side you have the big telecommunication providers like AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, and Time-Warner. With the recent vote by the FCC to implement rules that would “protect” the Internet and keep it neutral, politicians of all persuasions have joined the debate.
Libraries also have a dog in this hunt. Libraries have come to rely on the Internet to provide information resources for our patrons. Many information sources are only available on the Internet. The Internet has become such an important component of our work that the American Library Association (ALA) has come out with a position on net neutrality. For the ALA, net neutrality is critical to intellectual freedom, quoting from their position paper: “Network Neutrality (or "net" neutrality) is the concept of online non-discrimination. It is the principle that consumers/citizens should be free to get access to - or to provide - the Internet content and services they wish, and that consumer access should not be regulated based on the nature or source of that content or service. Information providers - which may be websites, online services, etc., and who may be affiliated with traditional commercial enterprises but who also may be individual citizens, libraries, schools, or nonprofit entities - should have essentially the same quality of access to distribute their offerings. "Pipe" owners (carriers) should not be allowed to charge some information providers more money for the same pipes, or establish exclusive deals that relegate everyone else (including small noncommercial or startup entities) to an Internet "slow lane." This principle should hold true even when a broadband provider is providing Internet carriage to a competitor.”
If you use the Internet, this is a debate of consequence and there are good arguments on both sides. If you want to learn more just type “net neutrality” into your search engine of choice and you will get mountains of information.
For now, I’m going to watch the debate over the FCC’s new ruling on net neutrality more closely. Of course as my teenage daughter likes to point out I have a boring life.
Excerpted from a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation study on public library funding in the United States
"Public library use in the United States is growing. Circulation and visits to U.S.libraries are increasing and a wide range of services, such as literacy classes, teen programs and public access computing, are also experiencing strong demand. But the public funding required to sustain the variety, use and appetite for library services is not keeping pace with demand. For many public libraries, particularly those in smaller rural communities, funding is a growing concern."
"Federal and state funding for public libraries has flattened or declined, and the ability to raise funds from local sources, which represent 81% of all library funding, has also become more difficult."
"Library levies and referenda are being placed on election ballots less frequently in recent years and passage rates of the library levies that make it to the ballot have steadily declined over the past decade."
Sources of public library funding:
- Local government funding (81.4%)
- Federal government (0.5%)
- Nontax sources including fees, donations, fines, etc. (8.4%)
- State government (9.6%)
Source: National Center for Education Statistics, 2007
