Message From Your State Librarian

PHOTO: Former Texas Governor Mark White speaks with Peggy Rudd, Director and Librarian of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission and other Opportunity Online summit attendees.

Jeff Davis County Library
FORT DAVIS, Texas – The 260 mile drive to Fort Davis, Texas down Texas Highway 17 is a great travel route. Stretches of beautiful mountains with no signs of human habitation enticed us to stop on the side of the road to listen to the quiet, and enjoy the crisp air and clear sky. We were not interrupted by our cell phones because we had no signal much of the time.

Ft. Davis is a very interesting West Texas town and has western themed hotels and great food. We ate steak, barbeque, and beans at The Chuck Wagon, a local restaurant located directly in front of the Fort Davis National Historical Site. The portions were Texas size and they served your beverage out of real Mason jars. I normally don’t trust a skinny chef, but he changed my culinary mind this day.

Fort Davis has about 1,000 residents, but the library serves the entire county of about 2,500 people. We arrived at 8 a.m. at the Jeff Davis County Library to meet Toi Fisher, the energetic redheaded librarian. At first glance her library building appears to be a former jail, but she quickly told us that it was a former Union mercantile building. It has a western historical charm, and the huge open windows with bars cooled it to a comfortable level.

Toi told us the library staff work to make the library an exciting place and that it serves as a community center. After school ends at 3 pm, many school children come to the library to complete their homework and participate in after school activities until around 5 to 6 p.m., when parents get off work. During this time they use the Internet, complete projects, and enjoy other resources at the library. It is also a community safety net for the school children until they are picked up.

David, tall and studious teen, uses web-based social networking tools at the library to stay in touch with his brother who moved to China to attend college, and to stay in touch with his friends in Abilene, Texas some 340 miles away. He also uses the library’s Internet resources for his research projects. Internet access at the library gives him access to the world.

David told us about traveling from his home, nestled in the mountains with roads often only accessible by vehicles with 4-wheel drive, and where any type of Internet service, including satellite, is not available. The only options for Internet service for most people in this area are expensive, unreliable, or slow – unless you use the public library.

The library is the only free public Internet access in the area. Truckers and hotel guests visiting the fort or nearby McDonald Observatory use the library’s Wi-Fi in the parking lot before it opens. Other patrons bring in their laptops and plug directly into library’s network to pay bills and take care of other personal business. Ranchers in the area often come in to send bandwidth intensive video and pictures of their livestock and cattle to potential buyers and auctioneers.

We also met Sharon, who runs the Boys & Girls Club and uses the library extensively for Club programs. They help teens apply for college, financial aid, and have even hosted sleepovers for girls in the library. The citizens and visitors of this county are extremely dependent on the broadband services of the library, but Toi said they need greater broadband capacity to handle the heavy usage.

We then left for Fort Stockton 90 miles away, but we still enjoyed the scenery of this area through Alpine and on to I-10.

Fort Stockton Public Library
FORT STOCKTON, Texas – We met Elva Valadez, the director of the Fort Stockton Public Library, and found her library was very busy with patrons working at the computers.

Elva told us that businesses do not even give applicants a choice. Applicants must become computer and Internet savvy or you can’t apply for or find a job. Sarah, the library staff person in charge of the network, told us many patrons are using the library’s computers to access Workforce resources because the area has experienced large layoffs. All of the Workforce applications must be submitted online.

John, a frequent library user, told us that he comes into the library at least five days a week and uses the library’s Internet access to run an avocado business and maintain his business relationships in Mexico.

Bill, another frequent user, describes himself as a self-employed small businessman, and describes the Fort Stockton library as serving the same role as a business such as Kinko’s in a larger city. He uses the library’s computers and network to handle all of his daily business and correspondence. He stated that if his library didn’t have broadband service, he would have to give up the small town charm of the Fort Stockton area and move to a bigger city. He also said that in rural communities, their access to the world is through broadband Internet access.

Our next stop was Big Lake, Texas, about 95 miles away. Approaching Big Lake we were looking for a big lake, but what we saw in the distance was miles and miles of wind turbines.

Reagan County Library
BIG LAKE, Texas – Let me clear up one detail about Big Lake - there is no longer a lake in Big Lake and from what we were told, it has been dry for an extended period of time, although there is a lake clearly marked on all of the maps that we used. The Reagan County Library is located in the town square - in the heart of this town of 3,300 residents.

This is where we met the director Linda Rees. Her library is used heavily by the youth in the area with children’s materials comprising 34 percent of all library materials checked out. Her library staff considers themselves very experienced in helping people with job applications and resume writing because state agencies have told people that everything must be done online and the closest unemployment service in the area is about 70 miles away. She stated that government agencies are closing offices in small communities, consolidating offices in larger towns, and telling people to go to their local libraries to access online government services.

The town has been heavily hit by oil business layoffs, but because of the library’s computers and Internet access, the library has seen a dramatic increase in the number of people using the library. Linda’s library provides a basic Internet Search class every Monday night from 6-9 p.m. and the class list is often full well into the future.

We met a patron named Eva who was wearing nursing scrubs and had her little son with her. She was looking for jobs for her family and checking her e-mail. Another patron, Simon, said that because of the job situation, “the library is the only thing that they have going.” It gives him hope.

On our way to Sonora, Texas where we spent the night, once again the beauty of Texas made us stop at a bridge with water flowing on each side. This was another beautiful scene, and another beautiful reason that we feel we have traveled the entire nation because of the diverse topography of Texas.

September 8

Cochran County Love Memorial Library
MORTON, Texas - After about a 30-mile drive, we entered the city limits of Morton with a population of around 2,000 citizens, at 7 a.m. to visit with Darla Hightower, a one-woman library. Her library, Cochran County Love Memorial building was formerly a bank with a drive thru teller booth still attached that now serves as Darla’s covered parking. Her city was mentioned in a USAToday article called Rural American Long to be Linked.

First entering Morton we were passed by farmers on huge farming equipment, then we noticed a few closed shops and stores and could tell that the town had seen bustling and busier times but in the middle of this town, the lights were on at the library and Darla was open for business. Despite telling us of how sick and ill she was the night before it makes you wonder, if Darla gets sick, would the library be open? She confirmed that she has a back up person who is on call if she can’t make it in.

Darla told us about the need for more broadband speed at her library because at first local kids would come in just to play games over the Internet but then they learned to use the other resources in the library for school. She stated that students come in to further their education at nearby colleges and at Texas Tech which saves them about a 90 to 120 mile round trip to the campus in Lubbock. She said that people also come in and check the job markets and apply for jobs online and update their resumes.

A farmer named Donnie who raises cotton, maze and wheat for a living told us about how he uses the library’s Internet services to read farming news, farming magazines and check commodity prices which he stated are a little bit delayed. He also checks with the seed companies and their representatives online. A mother named Carrie told us of her kids using the library to do research for jobs, apply to colleges and for financial aid.

We met Ruste, a Texas boy who had to feed his animals and pet goat before he heads off to school every morning. But don’t be fooled by this kid with a grin and laugh as big as Texas is Internet savvy by using MySpace to chat with his friends outside the area. He also uses it to do his homework and just recently for a school project on the Alamo.

After the interview, Darla darts off to drop Ruste off at school, which was just around the corner. You can tell she does more for the community than just open and close the library and that she deserves that covered parking spot, also.

Next we are off to Denver City about 54 miles south of Morton down Texas highway 214.

Cecil Bickley Library
DENVER CITY, Texas - Miles of farmland, which is nothing unusual in this part of Texas but what we found different was littered in the middle of the crops seemed to be miniature oil well pumps. The closer we got to Denver City the denser the pumps became in the fields. Then pumps started to get bigger and bigger and after a while you started to feel like they were watching you. We joked about this would probably be a place for a company like Halliburton. Then we passed the Halliburton Energy Services plant sign.

We came to meet Pat McNabb at the Cecil Bickley Library in Denver City with a population of about 4,000. Pat is head of the Yoakum County public libraries with her other location 15 miles away in Plains. She greeted us with zucchini muffins and two orange and white cats that are the residential mascots of the library also welcomed us.

Pat told us that patrons bring food and treats for the cats and that the library has an entire section dedicated to cats for children to read. You will notice little cat nooks and crannies all round the library were built just for them and also the live displays for the tarantulas and turtles in the children’s section.

Pat told us of how citizens and patrons print out their IRS forms, unemployment check-ins and how many companies don’t hire walk-ins or people who hand carry their resumes to the company. They only accept online applications now. She said that harvesters who come in the fall for grains, watermelons and peanuts will have their trucks lined up in the library parking lot, utilizing the Wi-Fi to send e-mails home and to check grain prices along with the weather to determine if they should harvest or not. She also stated that every once and while they will watch the Dallas Cowboys football game over the Internet since they have no other means of viewing the team while on the road.

We also talked to Phillip, to a quick-witted gentleman with what I would describe as having a heavy Australian-type accent, who started a business as a U.S. wholesale distributor with a company in China. He said that it was because of the Internet access at the library that he was able to be in contact and develop a relationship to get his business started. He also relishes the fact that he can look at pictures of his grandchildren, which he said he would not be able to do without the higher speed Internet at the library.

A librarian named Ginger told us about how people in the county come to the library to submit workforce information instead of having to drive 35 miles to Brownfield in hopes of getting a job. At Denver City’s public library faster broadband services is wanted and need by the citizens and patrons, it is also a place to pet a harmless and friendly fat cat or two.

We are off to make a long five-hour drive to the mountains of west Texas, to Fort Davis located in Jeff Davis county.

Check back tomorrow for more.

September 8

Cochran County Love Memorial Library
MORTON, Texas - After about a 30-mile drive, we entered the city limits of Morton with a population of around 2,000 citizens, at 7 a.m. to visit with Darla Hightower, a one-woman library. The Cochran County Love Memorial Library’s building was formerly a bank with a drive thru teller booth still attached that now serves as Darla’s covered parking space. Her city was mentioned in a USAToday article called Rural Americans Long to be Linked.

Upon first entering Morton we were passed by farmers on huge farming equipment. We noticed a few closed shops and stores and could tell that the town had seen bustling and busier times, but in the middle of this town, the lights were on at the library and Darla was open for business. Despite telling us of how sick and ill she was the night before, Darla was on the job, and it makes you wonder, if Darla gets sick, if the library would be open. Darla assured us that she has a back up person who is on call if she can’t make it in.

Darla told us about the need for more broadband speed at her library. At first, local kids would come in just to play games over the Internet, but then they learned to use the other resources in the library for school. She stated that college students come in to further their education at nearby colleges and at Texas Tech, which saves them about a 90 to 120 mile round trip to the campus in Lubbock. She said that people also come in and check the job markets and apply for jobs online and update their resumes.

A farmer named Donnie who raises cotton, maze, and wheat for a living told us about how he uses the library’s Internet services to read farming news, farming magazines, and check commodity prices - which he stated are a little bit delayed. He also checks with the seed companies and their representatives online. A mother told us of her kids using the library to do research for jobs, apply to colleges and for financial aid.

We met Ruste, a Texas boy who had to feed his animals and pet goat before he heads off to school every morning. But don’t be fooled by this small kid with a grin and laugh as big as Texas. Ruste is Internet savvy by using MySpace to chat with his friends outside the area. He also uses it to do his homework and just recently for a school project on the Alamo.

After the interview, Darla darts off to drop Ruste at school, which was just around the corner. You can tell she does more for the community than just open and close the library and that she deserves that covered parking spot.

Next we were off to Denver City, about 54 miles south of Morton down Texas highway 214.

Cecil Bickley Library
DENVER CITY, Texas – Along the route were miles of farmland, which is nothing unusual in that area, except that scattered in the middle of the crops seemed to be miniature oil well pumps. The closer we got to Denver City the denser the pumps became. Then the pumps started to get bigger and bigger and after a while you started to feel like they were watching you.

We met Pat McNabb at the Cecil Bickley Library in Denver City. Denver City has a population of about 4,000. Pat is head of the two Yoakum County public libraries, with the second library located 15 miles away in Plains. She greeted us with zucchini muffins, and the two live-in orange and white cats that are the resident mascots of the library welcomed us to the facility.

Pat told us that patrons bring food and treats for the cats and that the library has an entire section dedicated to cats for children to read. You will notice little cat nooks and crannies all round the library that were built just for them and also the live displays of tarantulas and turtles in the children’s section.

I would describe Denver City as a hard working mechanical and oil industry town. Everything closes at around 4 p.m., even some of the restaurants that cater to the big lunch crowds from the local industries, which explains why the public library opens at 2 p.m. on Tuesdays to serve its patrons’ needs.

Pat told us of how citizens print out their IRS forms, perform unemployment check-ins, and how many companies don’t hire walk-ins or people who hand carry their resumes to the company. Companies only accept online applications now. She said that harvesters who come in the fall for grains, watermelons, and peanuts will have their trucks lined up in the library parking lot, utilizing the Wi-Fi to send e-mails home and to check grain prices along with the weather to determine if they should harvest or not. She also stated that every once and while they will watch the Dallas Cowboys football game over the Internet since they have no other means of viewing the team while on the road.

We also talked to a gentleman who started a business as a U.S. wholesale distributor with a company in China. He said that it was because of the Internet access at the library that he was able to develop a relationship to get his business started.

A librarian told us about how people in the county come to the library to submit workforce information instead of having to drive 35 miles to Brownfield in hopes of getting a job. At Denver City’s public library faster broadband service is wanted and needed by the citizens and patrons. It is also a place to pet a friendly cat or two.

We are off to make the long 5-hour drive to the mountains of west Texas, to Fort Davis located in Jeff Davis County.

More to come tomorrow.

This is the story / blog of a trip of more than 960 miles, to visit eight libraries in three days, from the flat lands of Texas' northwest panhandle, to isolated mountains of the west, back to the hill country of its central corridor - all to capture the need for more broadband Internet service at Texas libraries.

By Derick Hackett, TSLAC Communications Officer

This journey started as a charge by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Texas State Library and Archives Commission to travel around the state of Texas to show what broadband Internet connections in public libraries mean for communities. We found what we in the library field already know, that the Internet did not destroy or make the role of the library obsolete, but instead transformed libraries into centers that connect citizens with vital information and services, and are used for diverse purposes such as to run businesses, access government services, find jobs, research health issues, and receive an education.

Physically most libraries look like a collection of books and documents, but there is more to libraries than the stereotypes. There is a technology usage that is not included in the stereotype. What we found on this journey was that Texans living in diverse locations have Internet and broadband access needs. Texans mirror the Internet desires of all citizens of this country.

Especially in times of economic need, libraries are vital to their communities.

In a 2009 report Public Libraries and Broadband Connectivity in Texas, 74 percent of the libraries stated that they are the only free public access to the Internet in their communities, and 54 percent of the 878 library outlets serve communities with fewer than 10,000 people. Only 42 percent of libraries said that their connection speed is sufficient to meet user needs at all times.

After living in Austin, Texas for just a little more than a year, this is the story of a Texas library communications officer originally from Atlanta, along with a videographer from Nashville, Tenn. and a producer from Bowling Green, Ky., about our trip of more than 960 miles to visit eight libraries in three days, from the flat lands of Texas’ northwest panhandle, to the mountains of West Texas, back to the hill country of its central corridor – all to capture the need for more broadband Internet service at Texas public libraries.

September 7

The journey began on Labor Day, after meeting Roy the producer and Jason the videographer at the Dallas airport. We knew that this was going to be a different trip when we got to our gate and discovered twin-turboprops attached to each wing of a AT7 (ART72) aircraft that we could only board and deplane from the rear exit.

On the approach to Lubbock, Texas where our journey would begin, we saw vast miles of farmland. The plane experienced a series of bumps followed by the sound of a “thump” that rattled the plane before it dropped for a few feet, probably from a slight wind shear which a seasoned pilot would write off as strong turbulence, but for the passengers it felt like the first two seconds of going down hill at the featured ride at a major amusement park. The flight attendant got her hands up just in time to keep her head from hitting the top of the cabin. We were now shaken and slightly stirred.

After landing and picking up the rental car, we drove to in Levelland, Texas to prepare for our first appointment the next morning in Morton, Texas and the Cochran County Love Memorial Library.


Check back tomorrow for more.

As we prepare to assemble next week for the Texas Opportunity Online Broadband Summit, I wanted to draw your attention to a list of resources that will prepare you for the event. Below are documents that will be meaningful to your summit experience:

• Agenda
• About the Opportunity Online Broadband Grant Program
• Texas State Profile
• Glossary of Broadband Terms
• Summary of Common Factors
• Issues Related to a Connectivity and Sustainability Plan

Rest assured, you can still register for the Texas Opportunity Online Summit on November 18 - 19 in San Antonio. If you are interested in attending, please call 1-866-882-3081 or email tx2summit@opportunityonline.org!

Welcome to the Opportunity Online Registration Portal! And thank you for being a crucial part of this grant process. This registration portal is an important resource to all summit participants and will be beneficial as you prepare to attend the Texas Opportunity Online Broadband Summit. The Texas State Library and Archive Commission is excited to be working with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on this important project and looking forward to working closely with you to ensure that adequate connectivity is available to all Texas libraries.