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By David Rothman

LibraryCity logoDo you live in a small, rural community, and are you extremely interested in bringing free e-books to it, including perhaps some modern titles at the popular level–not just classics?

LibraryCity would like to hear from you. Just yesterday, a small Southern community contacted me–a place where the illiteracy rate is 30 percent and the income level is a long way from that of Palm Beach.

In the past, I would have said, “No, we’re still gearing up.” But thanks to our new relationship with the LINCT Coalition, we have more resources now.

LINCT and LibraryCity can’t do the majority of the work–our basic role at present will be advisory. But we will have specific ideas to help you get going with a no-frills approach, using donated computers, easy-to-install software, local volunteers and a very valuable concept called Time Dollars.

E-mail me at my LibraryCity address. Yes, if your community is not rural or small, we’d still love to hear from you. As LibraryCity’s exec director, I’m just thinking that “small” is a great place to start.

LibraryCity, although new, brings together librarians and other professionals with many years of experience–either in libraries or e-books. Our tech advisor Jeff Fobbe even helped set up the ERIC database for the U.S. Department of Education, and board member Rochelle Hartman is on the ALA Council and loves small towns and the libraries that serve them. Alev Akman, also on the Board, is a veteran of the public domain world.

As for the LINCT coalition, it is led by Dr. Kenneth Komoski, a respected educator who earlier taught at Columbia University and is the past recipient of grants from leading foundations. He is an expert in the use of Time Dollars in school- and library-related efforts. Ken’s approach is thoroughly holistic. His efforts promote synergies between literacy and job-training initiatives, for example. If you want to connect the dots, LINCT is a great place to start.

 
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