The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced earlier today the kickoff of a $6.9 million initiative looking to help libraries update their services by purchasing new computers, covering the costs of infrastructure and installing faster Internet connections.
For now, seven states have been chosen to take part in the pilot program, with the Foundation looking at several different factors such as the biggest concentrations of public libraries with Internet speeds below 1.5 Mbps and public policy support to improve public library broadband access. Depending on the success of this effort, the Gates Foundation is expected to include several other states in its future programs.
The pilot program includes Kansas, Texas, New York, Virginia, California, Massachusetts and Arkansas and there will be two separate organizations handling the funds. The non-profit broadband Internet advocacy group Connected Nation will be awarded $6.1 million which will be used to help the states organize a broadband summit and the American Library Association's Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP) will receive the rest of $850,000 which will be used to fund research and expertise.
A recent report released by the Library Association points out that 73 percent of public libraries are the only source of free, public Web access in their communities, which makes their role extremely important and their improvement mandatory.
The awarded amount brings the foundation’s investment grand total to a significant $325 million, used over the past several years to constantly improve the computer access in libraries all across the country.
The Gates Foundation is involved in many other projects, such as the recently awarded $18.7 million grant for a five-year plan with the University of Georgia Research Foundation, which will attempt to find ways of reducing morbidity from schistosomiasis in low- and middle-income countries from Africa, the Middle East and also the Americas. The project’s principal investigator is Mr. Dan Colley, director of UGA’s Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases.
Schistosomiasis is transmitted through a species of freshwater snails, which multiply and release infected worms into the water. The worms get in contact with humans while they are fishing, swimming or washing their clothes and enter through their skin. Even though the mortality rate is relatively low, schistosomiasis is known for damaging internal organs and impairing the physical and cognitive development in children. The symptoms of infection range from fever, abdominal pain, diarrhea and cough, to fatigue, pulmonary hypertension and often an enlarged liver and spleen. The worms can live in the humans’ blood vessels for up to 40 years, causing chronic illnesses.
The plan is to find different approaches and diagnostic tools able to help identify, control and hopefully even eliminate the problem.
“This grant significantly bolsters the University of Georgia’s growing strength in public health and medical research,” stated UGA President Michael F. Adams, adding that “It holds promise for great progress in eliminating a disease that causes suffering and economic hardship for millions around the world.”
