By Katherine Trujillo | Deputy Director
Approximately 32 million adults in the United States are illiterate. Additionally, 35% of lower-income households with school age children do not have access to a broadband Internet connection at home. When talking about the realities these communities face, we often throw out terms like “digital divide” and “homework gap.” Setting aside the jargon for a moment, these numbers indicate that for households with an annual income below $30,000, applying for a job, completing homework, and contacting friends or family is exponentially more difficult. Imagine going one day without the Internet. Now imagine going one day without being able to read.
By providing access to information and transforming informal spaces into places of learning, Libraries Without Borders reaches precisely these communities. Through partnerships with libraries, nonprofits, and community members themselves, we narrow the digital divide and increase literacy rates across the United States.
Since our last update, we have continued to expand the reach of our programs, forge new partnerships, and broaden the scope of the services we provide.
Updates from the Wash and Learn Initiative:
On October 18th, we brought the Wash & Learn Initiative (WALI) to San Antonio. Borne out of a partnership with Google Fiber, the San Antonio Public Library, and BiblioTech (the library of Bexar County), this program has transformed two laundromats into places where members of the community can access books, technology, and other wrap-around services. To learn more about this program, check out our website!
Following an accident that killed a young boy and his mother upon leaving Family Laundry (our Oakland WALI site), the laundromat became a center for activism and healing. In November, Family Laundry dedicated the WALI reading room in honor of their memory. The laundromat also organized an all-day event that brought community members face-to-face with their elected representatives, and gave them the opportunity to demand a traffic light for this deadly intersection. You can learn more about this program here!
On November 16th, LWB hosted its first ever "Digital Resource Fair" at Laundry City, one of our four Baltimore WALI sites. The event brought together nonprofits, community-based organizations, and laundromat patrons for a day of fun and learning that also gave various groups the opportunity to showcase their online resources.
Engaging our Supporters
On November 7th, LWB hosted a book talk with scholar Stephanie Hom, the author of Empire's Mobius Strip, which traces the roots of the present-day migrant crisis in Italy to the country's early imperial ambitions.
By Katherine Trujillo | Deputy Director
By Kat Trujillo | Deputy Director
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