Frequently Asked Questions
About the PAC HUG Program

1. Why is the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation providing funds to upgrade computer hardware?
2. What is the goal of this grant program?
3. How will these grant funds be used?
4. How did the foundation determine how much money each state would receive?
5. Is this grant from the foundation meant to replace federal, state or local government funding?
6. Will libraries be required to use Microsoft products?
7. What challenges do libraries face in sustaining their public access computer services?

Q: Why is the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation providing funds to upgrade computer hardware?
A: Ensuring libraries can stay up-to-date with technology is critical to bridging the digital divide. This grant program is a one-time program designed to level the playing fields between libraries that were granted older computer models with other libraries that received newer models in more recent years. These grants will allow the first 18 states to receive foundation grants through the U.S. Library Program and recipients of grants through the Native American Access to Technology Program (NAATP) to have the same technology base as the rest of the country.

While the older machines, granted between 1997 and 2000, have proven to be effective workstations in a public access computing environment, they were highly customized. Though many libraries have leveraged foundation grants into additional funding to replace and add computers, many libraries in the first 18 states (AL, LA, MS, AR, KY, WV, NM, SC, OK, FL, CA, TN, ID, MT, GA, MI, TX, AZ) and many who received grants under NAATP still are using the older customized machines. The most recent 32 state grantees are using a more updated model, and share a common support and technology base to help leverage usability, software, and security.

Q: What is the goal of this grant program?
A: The ultimate goal is to encourage libraries across the country to keep equipment and infrastructure up to date, which will be critical to reducing inequities in technology access. Keeping infrastructure current involves developing plans and budgets to support investments in hardware and software technology, supporting increasingly faster Internet connection speeds, and technical support to keep machines running efficiently. The foundation also wants to engage the wider community—businesses, state and local governments, nonprofits, and other library supporters—to support libraries and public access to computers.

Nearly every public library in the United States offers free, public access to the Internet, but together we can do more to ensure libraries are successful portals to technology. As Bill Gates Sr. said in an address to the Public Library Association (PLA) in February 2004, “If equipment is old and outdated, computers in public libraries may be more a reflection of society’s inequities than a remedy for them.

Q: How will these grant funds be used?
A: The grant will be used to fund replacement of hardware such as CPUs, monitors, keyboards, and mice. Grant funds also can be used for upgrades to software, support services (i.e. extended warranty), and installation and configuration (i.e. the installation or purchase of Centurion Guard tool or security software installation and configuration).

Q: How did the foundation determine how much money each state would receive?
A: Eligibility for hardware and software upgrades was based on the prior foundation public access computer grant received during the initial phase of the U.S. Library Program.

Q: Is this grant from the foundation meant to replace federal, state or local government funding?
A: No. The foundation hopes to be a catalyst for additional partners from both the private and public sector to support libraries and assume the challenge of providing broad public access to information technologies. In fact, this one-time hardware upgrade program is designed to help communities in the first 18 state grantees more easily sustain investments in libraries and public access computing in the future.

Throughout the U.S. Library Program, the foundation’s activities, including grantmaking, technical assistance, training, and partnership building, have been designed to encourage long-term local technological and financial sustainability. Many of the foundation’s grantees have successfully used the foundation grant to leverage other funds and partnerships. This kind of support from diverse organizations is even more critical for libraries as they move into the 21st century.

Q: Will libraries be required to use Microsoft products?
A: No. The grants will allow each state library to decide which hardware and software to purchase based on the needs of their own communities.   Furthermore, the foundation and Microsoft are separate and independent organizations.

Though we are not tied into using Microsoft products, the foundation is pleased that Microsoft and Gateway have been important partners in this effort, providing free or reduced cost software and hardware.

Q: What challenges do libraries face in sustaining their public access computer services?
A: In a time of budget cuts and conflicting priorities, librarians are struggling to keep their doors open and their computers running. Sustaining public access computing programs will require ongoing investment and support in three key areas: 

Keeping libraries open
In response to the fiscal climate across the country, many libraries—big or small, urban or rural—are reducing their services or building hours to meet ever-shrinking budgets. Dwindling levels of access to the public library have always been a disservice to communities, but now these cuts limit computer and Internet use for some patrons who rely on the service.

Training
Libraries need to be staffed by individuals who have the technical skills required to provide excellent public access computing services. A recent survey found that 40 percent of libraries do not offer any formal technology training for their staff, despite the many benefits that result. Staff turnover increases the necessity of ongoing training.

Technology
Hardware and software upgrades:  Hardware and software are the most recognizable costs. Heavy use of library computers and the changing nature of technology make hardware and software upgrades a necessity.

Internet connectivity: Telecommunications and Internet access costs are an ongoing concern for public libraries. The libraries most in need have relied on the federal E-rate program, which offers deep discounts in connectivity costs. About 50 percent of public libraries use E-rate funding to cover monthly telecommunications and Internet access fees, while others have used the E-rate program to purchase higher bandwidth Internet connectivity sooner than they could have otherwise have afforded.

Technical support:   Ensuring that computers are working increases a community’s return on investment in public access computing. Yet, in-house technical support is often unavailable to all but the largest libraries. For the rest, the prohibitively high cost of support often leads to downtime for computers.

What is TechAtlas?
TechAtlas is a suite of web-based technology planning tools that your library can use to assess current technology use and receive recommendations on how to better implement technological solutions to achieve your institutional mission. To make the most effective use of technology, start by assessing your current capacity and then plan on how to improve it. TechAtlas assists your organization in doing this assessment and planning.

Based on your organization's responses, TechAtlas offers recommendations that can be customized and prioritized to best suit your library's needs. Building on these recommendations, TechAtlas outlines a timeline and action plan your library can edit and refine over time as you create and update your technology plan.

Launch TechAtlas
(note: TechAtlas works best with Internet Explorer version 5.0 or 6.0)

What Tools are Available?
The TechAtlas suite includes several different tools which together provide a comprehensive resource for strategic technology assessment and planning. TechAtlas uses a simple, nonlinear methodology allowing you to work on the separate pieces of a comprehensive technology plan as time and resources allow:

• Envision. Your technology plan is driven by your mission statement and your vision for how computer technology can improve service to library patrons. TechAtlas guides you in assembling a technology planning team and creating mission and vision statements to drive your planning processes.
• Inventory. Your technology plan will naturally derive from an inventory of your current resources. Once you have an accurate picture of your hardware, software, and network connections, you'll be better able to plan for the future. TechAtlas includes several different inventory tools to help you get a complete picture of what is available now in your library.
• Assess. Beyond computer equipment itself, you also need to understand how computer technology is used in your library. TechAtlas includes assessment tools to gather information on how you are currently implementing security, developing staff skills, and using software tools to implement a communications strategy.
• Act. Once your library technology plan begins to take shape, TechAtlas provides recommendations on specific tasks to be undertaken towards achieving your technology vision. Using the TechAtlas project center, you can break those recommendations down into manageable steps, and track cost and effort required for each one, along with staff assignments and schedules.

Launch TechAtlas
(note: TechAtlas works best with Internet Explorer version 5.0 or 6.0)

What's New in TechAtlas 2.0?
NPower recently released TechAtlas version 2.0, incorporating several important new features:

• Redesign of Interface. The entire TechAtlas site has a brand new look and feel that was developed with the user experience in mind. NPower made numerous layout changes to improve site usability.
• Integration of TechSurveyor into TechAtlas. The TechSurveyor web-based computer inventory tool has been fully integrated into the TechAtlas suite. You can access TechSurveyor functionality by clicking on the Inventory tab once you are logged in to TechAtlas.
• Creation of Site Manager Functionality. NPower has enhanced TechAtlas to let partner organizations (such as WebJunction) offer a customized version of the user interface. This has allowed WebJunction staff to add library-specific content, making TechAtlas a more useful tool for our community.

Launch TechAtlas
(note: TechAtlas works best with Internet Explorer version 5.0 or 6.0)
Coming Soon
With plenty of feedback from those in the library community, as well as ideas garnered from existing E-rate-compatible library technology plans, and even more ideas gathered from the literature on library technology planning, WebJunction is currently in the process of further customizing the technology planning tools in TechAtlas in order to offer an "E-rate friendly" library technology plan template. This is scheduled to be released in late fall, and you will hear more on this as we get closer to release.

top of page

Updated:  03/28/2006