Library Internet Access Is 'World-Changing' for Millions but the Money Could Disappear

Yahoo

17-04-2025

Before there was high-speed internet in Santo Domingo Pueblo, a tribal community about 40 miles from Albuquerque, New Mexico, leaders would pass around a Verizon hotspot to help run their tribal programs. It was inconvenient, and only a limited amount of high-speed data was available. But without broadband access, there was no other choice.
It wasn't until 2017 that the local library got high-speed internet, thanks to a tribally built and owned fiber-optic network paid for by community funds and the federal E-Rate program. In August 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, that access expanded to homes throughout the pueblo.
Students no longer had to be driven 5 miles east to get a cell signal and do their homework on their phones. Now, they could access the internet at home or go to the library to get online.
"The broadband initiative was really quite world-changing for us," says Herman Sanchez, the pueblo's tribal programs administrator. "It allows our students the same tools that non-tribal students have."
The Santo Domingo Pueblo Library, which serves as a community gathering place, is just one example of how libraries -- particularly in rural and tribal areas -- are central hubs for accessing free, high-speed internet. In a world that's increasingly online, libraries have evolved far beyond places to check out books. They're a way for people, many of whom can't afford broadband at home, to take an online class, submit a job application or learn computer basics.
But that critical function of keeping communities online is facing mounting challenges, especially as E-Rate, a federal program that has allowed libraries to fund broadband projects, faces an uncertain future.
More than 40 million Americans don't have broadband access at home, according to Pew Research; 45% of those people cite the high costs of broadband as the reason, while 37% point to the cost of a computer. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated this broadband divide when everything from school to work to socializing moved online.
"A lot of Americans didn't have access to the internet, and the pandemic closure really made us realize that as a society," Sanchez says. "[Students] were sent home to do computer-based learning, and our kids didn't even have internet."
Libraries are poised to help tackle the divide, thanks in part to their significant presence. There are over 17,000 public libraries in the US, according to the American Library Association, meaning there's a high chance at least one is in your community. Historically, libraries have served as places to access both physical and digital information, making them well-positioned to offer free high-speed internet so people can access the online world.
But that role is under threat. E-Rate, which made the Santo Domingo Pueblo Library's broadband project possible, is being challenged as part of a Supreme Court case. And an executive order issued in March calls for the elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which the American Library Association has decried as "cutting off at the knees the most beloved and trusted of American institutions and the staff and services they offer." The independent federal agency, which awards grants to museums and libraries across the US, has placed its whole staff on administrative leave.
"You have to have the internet, and in many tribal communities, the library is all they've got," Sanchez says. "This is 2025, and it's crazy to even say that there are still communities out there that don't have internet -- that's just wrong."
To build its fiber-optic network, the Santo Domingo Pueblo Library teamed up with three other nearby pueblos to establish a tribal consortium. Together, they built a $4.2 million, 60-mile fiber-optic network to support local schools and libraries.
Central to that project was the E-Rate federal program, which gives eligible libraries and schools discounts on internet access and telecommunications. E-Rate is part of the Universal Service Fund, a Federal Communications Commission initiative to expand affordable broadband access, particularly in rural and low-income areas. More than 132,000 schools and libraries received services supported by E-Rate in 2023, according to the Universal Service Administrative Company. About 95% of the funding for the tribal consortium's fiber-optic network came from E-Rate.
But E-Rate is being threatened. The conservative, nonprofit group Consumers' Research is challenging the Universal Service Fund that it's part of, calling it unconstitutional. The Supreme Court heard the case in late March but seems unlikely to strike down the program.
Still, the looming threat has led library and school advocates to speak up about the importance of E-Rate. The ALA filed an amicus brief with the court, noting that "Americans, especially the most vulnerable, rely on libraries' internet access made affordable by the E-Rate program."
Tejas Narechania, professor of law at the University of California, Berkeley, says it's hard to predict what the Supreme Court will do but agrees that it's unlikely to strike down the Universal Service Fund and E-Rate. Rather, he thinks it'll reverse the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit's ruling that the program is invalid.
"Having said that, losing access to the E-Rate program would have devastating effects," Narechania says. "Eliminating this financial support would unwind this progress toward bridging the digital divide."
The end of the Affordable Connectivity Program last year was already a blow for many home broadband subscribers. That initiative, which kicked off at the height of the pandemic, offered a discount of up to $30 monthly for broadband service to eligible households and up to $75 monthly on tribal lands. Its shutdown amplified the need for affordable internet.
In many rural communities, locally owned and operated internet services are a more affordable way to get connected. Sometimes, they're the only way.
"[Traditional internet service providers] are not going to invest in Santo Domingo because the infrastructure costs too much," Sanchez says. "That's what happened in many rural communities like Santo Domingo -- not just tribes, but rural communities."
So, it fell upon the community to build and support its own network. In Santo Domingo, internet subscribers can get 25 megabits per second for $50 a month, 35Mbps for $75 a month and 50Mbps for $100 a month. These speeds fall below the FCC's threshold for how it defines broadband, which last year was upped from 25Mbps download speeds to 100Mbps, but it's still been life changing for the community.
Community-led broadband has been successfully implemented in some cities across the US, though not without challenges. Chattanooga, Tennessee, remains the poster child for such a network after the city formed its own fiber network, offering 1Gbps speeds starting at $58 a month. Around 130 cities across the country have similar networks, but telecoms have fought against the establishment of more, as The Center for Public Integrity reported in 2022. Even though it doesn't have gigabit speeds, the Santo Domingo Pueblo's network is a lifeline as an infrastructure foundation for the future.
Expanding its fiber-optic network into homes was critical, since the Santo Domingo Pueblo Library only had a dozen computers. ("You can imagine the waitlist on that," Sanchez told me.) Using funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the stimulus bill Congress passed at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pueblo also put a computer in every home "because no one owned computers," Sanchez says.
Now, with a nearly $13 million grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and a Connect New Mexico grant for just over $9 million, the community is working to put fiber in every building within its borders, as well as in nearby homes on non-tribal land. It also plans to build five more cell towers to expand 5G mobile service, bringing the total to seven towers.
"We've come a long way since we had zero internet," Sanchez reflects. "We still have a long way to go."
It's not just rural communities where libraries work to bridge the broadband gap. In New York City, about a quarter of households don't have broadband, according to the city council. For many years, the New York Public Library loaned out hotspots, but it's now looking for a more long-term solution.
That's why the NYPL has teamed up with the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development for a three-year pilot to bring high-speed internet to around 2,000 households in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx. As part of the collaboration, partner internet service providers (which haven't been announced yet) will install broadband in low-income homes identified by HPD. The library will then provide tech training and troubleshooting to ensure residents can navigate these new tools. The pilot is slated to kick off in the fall of 2025.
"Our role is to come in and to make sure that the same level of service that we provide to patrons inside of the libraries is what folks are experiencing inside of these spaces," says Garfield Swaby, NYPL's senior director of IT. "It's a good long-term way of keeping New Yorkers online and engaged."
Other libraries have similarly worked to bolster internet access at home. In 2018, the State Library of North Carolina launched the Homework Gap Project, funded by the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services. It taught digital skills to students and their families and loaned them hotspots so they could more easily complete their homework assignments. Nearly 90% of participants said broadband wasn't available where they lived, and 67% said it was too expensive.
"Sometimes your local public library may be your source of internet, and that's not ideal," says State Librarian Michelle Underhill. "We know that internet access in the home is ideal."
The project wrapped up in 2021, but the State Library of North Carolina still offers the curriculum online. Underhill says libraries continue to partner with schools and other local organizations to provide broadband access and digital skills training.
This illustrates how libraries, beyond providing physical and digital resources, have become a lifeline for communities in a rapidly changing world.
"Libraries serve so many roles right now; they're really community centers," Underhill says. "It's definitely not just a warehouse of print materials. It's where you go to connect with information and resources in your community, and sometimes just other people."
This is especially true at the Santo Domingo Pueblo Library. Even as broadband has become available in homes, the library remains a gathering place for cultural activities, Sanchez says. Beyond having computers with high-speed internet, there are also traditional pottery-making sessions and movie nights.
As budget worries loom, it's easy to get caught up in uncertainty, Sanchez acknowledges. But focusing on what libraries have continued to provide, even amid seismic shifts, offers some reprieve.
"Who knows what's going to happen? I always tell my staff, 'We can't worry about things we can't control. We just have to come to work every day and do the best work we can to provide quality services for our community members,'" Sanchez says. "That's within our control."
The ALA website also urges citizens to contact their members of Congress in support of federal library funding. An Institute of Museum and Library Services webpage shows how much money each state gets from the agency. You can find out how to contact your senators and representatives by entering your address on Congress' website.