Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation renews grant to ALA for public library technology study

The American Library Association has announced it has received a $2 million, three-year grant renewal from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to continue the Public Library Funding & Technology Access Study. ALA Office for Research & Statistics Director Denise Davis will remain as project director, and John Carlo Bertot, director of the University of Maryland (UMCP) Center for Library & Information Innovation, will continue to manage the Public Libraries and the Internet survey as part of the study. The study assesses public access to computers, the Internet and Internet-related services in U.S. public libraries, as well as the impact of library funding changes on connectivity, technology deployment and sustainability. Through integrated quantitative and qualitative research methods, the study gathers information from libraries of all sizes and in every state and from state library agencies.