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_This article is adapted from the AARP RURAL LIVABILITY WORKSHOP REPORT. Information about downloading or ordering the free publication can be found at the end of this page._ LINKING THROUGH

LIBRARIES The library in Lincoln, Montana, has limited hours, opening for just three to five hours a day and closed on Saturdays. Photo courtesy Brian Stanton MOBILE MODEMS Libraries in

Oklahoma and elsewhere are lending mobile hotspots (shown above and held by a librarian, below) to patrons who otherwise won't have Wi-Fi access. photo courtesy brian whitaker BEYOND

BOOKS Public libraries are customizing their offerings to meet community needs. Skis, snowshoes, mountain bikes, canoes and kayaks are among the holdings of the “Katahdin Gear Library” in

Millinocket, Maine. Most equipment can be checked out by residents for one week. PHOTO BY MELISSA STANTON Today’s public libraries are destinations for books, of course, but also for

activities, equipment (see the photo of skis below) and — perhaps most importantly in many rural communities — high-speed internet access. But since many rural libraries have limited hours

and depend on volunteers as staff, the doors are often locked when people need an internet connection. As a result, it’s not uncommon to see the parking lots of closed libraries filled with

cars, inside which are adults who need the internet to search for work or parents with students who need the internet to do homework. (The dining areas and parking lots of fast-food eateries

often serve a similar purpose. To address the lack of home-based internet, school districts in ATHENS, GEORGIA, and WINTERSET, IOWA, reached out to local businesses with free Wi-Fi and

asked them to display decals that let students know the location is a safe and welcoming place for them to do their homework. In COACHELLA VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, school buses equipped with

internet routers are parked overnight in residential areas that don’t have connectivity. The bus-based routers enable students to complete their assignments. In 2017, OKLAHOMA STATE

UNIVERSITY launched the Rural Library Hotspot Lending Program in the towns of ELGIN, PERKINS, SEMINOLE and HASKELL — the latter of which has a population of 1,900, half of whom had no home

access to the internet. During the one-year pilot, the program provided up to seven mobile hot spot devices to each town’s library, to be lent just like a book for one week at a time. The

American Library Association has information about setting up hotspot lending programs. (Use the keyword “hotspot” to search ALA.org.) RURAL COMMUNITIES AND THE INTERNET Free Publication

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