Public Sector Transformation Through E-Government
Page 8
ffice, to provide insight into agency perspectives on
current and future e-government services, as well as the needs that library
partnerships are fulfi
filling—or could fulfill.
Partnership data was drawn from research currently in progress. Web
searches and an extensive literature review led to the identifi ca
fi tion of many
of the site visit locations and interview subjects. In particular, information
gathered from the IMLS-funded grant, Libraries & E-Government: New Part-
nerships in Public Service, administered by the American Library Association
and the Information Policy & Access Center at the University of Maryland,
contributed much of the background research for the partnership section of
this chapter (see http://ipac.umd.edu/our-work/egovernment-partnerships for
more information).
38 John Carlo Bertot, Paul T. Jaeger, and Natalie N. Greene
3 TECHNOLOGY ACCESS AND USAGE
The extent of e-government transformations of public libraries is demon-
strated in results from the 2010–2011 survey (Bertot et al., 2011):1
• 99.3 percent of public libraries off
ffer public Internet access;
• 64.5 percent report that they are the only provider of free public com-
puter and Internet access in their communities;
• 85.7 percent off
ffer wireless (Wi-Fi) Internet access; and
• An average of 16.0 public access computers are available at each
library.
Though communities may have cafés, coff
ffee shops, or other establish-
ments that provide free Wi-Fi, they do not by and large provide public
access computers.
Libraries off er a ra
ff
nge of information technology instruction: 38.0 per-
cent off e
ff r formal training classes, 28.1 percent off er one
ff
-on-one training, 78.8
percent offer p
ff
oint-of-use assistance, and 29.5 percent off er on
ff
line training
materials (Bertot et al., 2011). Among libraries providing formal instruction,
92.9 percent off e
ff r general computer skill classes, 93.5 percent off er
ff
general
Internet use classes, 81.9 percent off er genera
ff
l online searching classes, 79.5
percent offer genera
ff
l software use classes, and 54.5 percent offe
ff r online data-
base classes. A primary use of the Internet in public libraries now is seeking
information, communicating, applying for services, and accessing services
from governments—89.7 percent of libraries help people understand and use
government websites, 80.7 percent help people apply for services, and 67.8
percent help people complete forms (Bertot et al., 2011).
The rise of e-government as a core library function has coincided with
a dramatic spike in patron needs related to a traditional library function—
seeking help with employment. With high unemployment levels and increas-
ing ubiquity of online-only job information and applications, 90.9 percent
of libraries provide access to online job resources, 74.5 percent help people
create resumes, and 71.9 percent help people apply for jobs online (Bertot
et al. , 2011). In fact, 91.8 percent of library respondents ranked services to job seekers as one of their most important contributions to their communities (Bertot et al., 2011). To help job seekers, libraries provide point-of-use
assistance (79 percent), formal training classes (38 percent), online training
materials (29 percent), and one-on-one training (28 percent).
Libraries face several major challenges in providing sufficient Internet
access to meet current demand (Bertot et al., 2011):
• 77.2 percent reported that space limitations prevent additional
workstations, whereas 54.4 percent state that the lack of electrical
outlets or suffi
fficient cabling is a signifi
ficant barrier to adding work-
stations or laptops.
Transformative E-Government and Public Service 39
• 76.2 percent reported having insuffi
c
ffi ient public access Internet worksta-
tions to meet patrons’ needs during at least some part of a typical day.
• 44.9 percent reported that their Internet connection speed is insuf-
fi
ficient to accommodate patron demand some or all of the time.
With increased usage, these added pressures on the network and infrastruc-
ture are occurring as library funding is being cut around the nation (Bertot
& Jaeger, 2012; Sigler et al . , 2012). A simple lack of access is not the only driver of this usage—the presence of a helpful, skilled librarian, who can
assist those who lack the necessary information literacy skills required to
fi
fill out online forms or search for vital information draws patrons to the
library (Jaeger, 2008; Jaeger & Bertot, 2009; Jaeger et al., 2012).
Recent economic events have sped the transformations created by e-gov-
ernment. Between 2006 and 2008, the number of Americans with library
cards increased by 5 percent, in-person library visits increased by 10 percent,
and library website visits increased by 17 percent, with 25 million people
visiting the library more than 20 times in 2008 (Davis, 2011). The need to
use technology to access social services is particularly acute; millions of
people now rely on government-provided social services to meet basic needs
that are available primarily or only online. With one in six Americans liv-
ing in a household where there is diffi
fficulty feeding the household members
and nearly half of older adults facing poverty, many Americans who have
never previously applied for social services now fi
find themselves seeking
government support (Chen, 2010; Reuters, 2010). With libraries being the
trusted social outlet for free public Internet access and assistance, people
with no access, insuffi
fficient access, or insuffi
fficient digital literacy primarily
turn to the library to apply for and access vital social services (Bertot, 2010;
Bertot & Jaeger, 2011). Because public libraries are so well positioned to
off
ffer e-government services, use of public library computers for this pur-
pose is high, especially among users who have no other access to the Inter-
net outside of the library (Becker et al., 2010).
4 LIBRARY
PARTNERSHIPS AND
TRANSFORMATIVE E-GOVERNMENT
With the knowledge of this trust and usage, libraries have begun to use the
Internet as a tool for reaching out into the community and creating partner-
ships with local and state government institutions. A prime example of this
trend is the Baltimarket project—a “virtual supermarket” that enhances
access to nutritious and aff
ffordable food in areas of the city that had lit-
tle access to adequately stocked grocery stores—in Baltimore, Maryland.
Established through collaborations by the libraries and the City Health
Department with an a
rea grocer, the Maryland Institute and College of
Art, and the Baltimore City Enoch Pratt Free Library System, the program
40 John Carlo Bertot, Paul T. Jaeger, and Natalie N. Greene
is truly a community eff
ffort. Essentially, the Virtual Supermarket allows
residents to order their groceries online at their local library and then
retrieve their food on the designated pick-up day, which takes place once
a week for one hour. Program volunteers and workers reach out directly
to schools, churches, and community associations to fi nd pa
fi
rticipants. On
pick-up days, information on nutrition and health is presented as a way to
tie in government initiatives to the service.
Another innovative service is the New Immigrant Project in Austin,
Texas. Through New Immigrant Centers eight library branches off
ffer con-
versation clubs, dedicated computers with language programs installed,
multilingual materials, and an extensive online presence with links to
community organizations and government websites, this project is an
example of a library and city government coalescing on a solution to
a local problem. Austin is also home to a collaboration between the
library and the Texas Workforce Center. This particular partnership
off
ffers employment services including job counseling, referrals, computer
classes, and other necessary skills training. The Workforce Center also
houses the Community Tax Center, which is open during tax season, but
staff
ffed year round with employees working on partnerships with com-
munity organizations and the IRS.
At the forefront of the e-government movement is the State Library
and Archives of Florida, which has funded numerous library-related
e-government projects. Among these is the “Florida Right Service, Right
Now” Web portal that connects citizens to county services by linking
problems (e.g., I need healthcare assistance; I need job assistance; etc) to
county services that are populated by local libraries. Another site “Get
Help Florida” off
ffers an “Ask a librarian” feature in which users can text,
chat, or email with a librarian to get help with government needs. Some
of the services highlighted include income eligibility for certain govern-
ment aid programs, locations of shelters listed by city, and places to get
food across the state. These two sites show an understanding of the need
for libraries to intercede on behalf of citizens with the government with
regards to fi n
fi ding information.
In Hartford, Connecticut, the public library has formed partnerships
with Catholic Charities Migration and Refugee Resettlement Services, the
City of Hartford’s Offi
ffice of Human Relations, Everyday Democracy, and
the University of Connecticut’s School of Social Work in order to better
serve the city’s immigrant population through their The American Place
initiative. The team off
ffers training to new community residents who volun-
teer to connect new immigrants with community services. The library also
provides extensive resources on immigration, including citizenship classes,
a language laboratory, and immigration forums that cover a wide range of
citizenship topics. Furthering the government connection, the library off
ffers
passport services on the library premises and even occasionally hosts citi-
zenship swearing-in ceremonies.
Transformative E-Government and Public Service 41
The District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL) offers several access
points to government services. When the DC Public School system lost
its federal funding for adult literacy programs in 1995, the library estab-
lished the Adult Literacy Resource Center, which works with over 70
adult literacy programs in the area. The Resource Center, physically
located at the main branch of DCPL, off
ffers materials for Graduate
Record Examination (GRE) preparation, language learning, basic math
and reading skills, and other necessary learning instructions. Local pro-
grams, as well as the learners themselves, can use these materials. DCPL
also off
ffers a robust computer training program, which is entirely staffed
by volunteer instructors. Classes range from basic typing and word pro-
cessing skills, to job searching strategies, to health literacy (a course
sponsored by the National Library of Medicine of the National Institutes
of Health and the District of Columbia Department of Health’s HIV/
AIDS Administration).
From small scale eff
fforts such as a dedicated computer for fi
filling out tax-
ation forms, found at many libraries around the nation, to a larger initiative
like Baltimarket, libraries are fi
finding ways to leverage their access to the
Internet and their central role in their communities. Underlying these ser-
vices is the central theme of community transformation through the public
library’s e-government roles, especially when combined with government
and other agency partnerships. At their core, each of these library initia-
tives is seeking to transform a community through the resolution of critical
challenges. For example:
• The Baltimarket program is about building a healthy community
through nutrition instruction, information, and access to healthy
foods. This is in direct response to the lack of healthy food alterna-
tives in the communities in which the program is run.
• The DCPL suite of programs refl
flect multiple challenges that the Dis-
trict of Columbia faces, including education, literacy, digital literacy,
and health literacy, to name several.
• The Hartford Public Library’s The American Place is a direct response
to the diverse needs of immigrant populations that have migrated to
the City of Hartford, and spans meeting the needs of immigrant chil-
dren in schools, language barriers faced by new immigrants, immi-
gration process challenges, and the need to link a range of literacies in
order to participate in the immigration process.
E-government is an underlying critical aspect of each of these transforma-
tions; however, the transformative process is enhanced through the combi-
nation of the library’s intermediated assistance that more fully integrates
and meets the needs than a simple, and often stand-alone, e-government
transaction. There are often more complexities to any given interaction
than a single online form.
42 John Carlo Bertot, Paul T. Jaeger, and Natalie N. Greene
5 TRANSFORMATIONS, IMPLICATIONS, AND CONCLUSIONS
As much as e-government has transformed the nature of the public library
and the ways in which it serves the community, the prolonged economic
downturn and the impact of attendant cost-cutting approaches have trans-
formed e-government usage in public libraries and the centrality of public
libraries to e-government access. The combination of a prolonged economic
downturn and ever-increasing rang
e of e-government services means that
public libraries now face several challenges in meeting these service needs:
• Many libraries struggle with infrastructure compression in areas
of space, connectivity, and other supports to expand the number
and capacity of computers available to patrons (Bertot et al., 2011;
McClure, Jaeger, & Bertot, 2007).
• Libraries are increasingly the only access point in communities for free
Internet and assistance using the Internet (Jaeger & Bertot, 2011).
• The Internet both has augmented existing library services and estab-
lished new social roles, with e-government and job seeking being the
most prominent and time-intensive of these new roles (Jaeger, 2008;
Jaeger & Bertot, 2009).
• Many other types of outlets for government information and services
that the public was able to previously rely on have moved primarily or
exclusively online, driving people without other access points to the
public library (Jaeger & Bertot, 2011).
These challenges are all tied inextricably to both the rise of e-government
and the economic downturn. As a result of these new approaches to deliver-
ing government information, communication, and services in a means that
relies on public library computers, access, and librarians, public libraries
have been transformed in nature of the terms of their functions, their roles
in their communities, and the expectations patrons and governments have
of them.
Large numbers of patrons come to libraries specifi
fically to use the com-
puters to search for work and to use e-government. Most users are not
coming to the library for pleasure reading, renting movies, and learning at
their leisure. They are coming to the public library for information-laden
e-government and employment services and resources, as well as the train-
ing and assistance of librarians in using these services and resources. For
those who need assistance, have no access, or have insuffi
c
ffi ient access, going
to the library is no longer a choice when there are no other outlets of free
public Internet access.
These same changes are also a transformation of the traditional work
of libraries. Just as e-government and the economic downturn have com-
bined to shift patron reasons for using the library, these same changes have
helped to redefi