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Google Fiber is excited to support Libraries Without Borders’ latest Wash and Learn Initiative (WALI) in San Antonio, along with the San Antonio Public Library and BiblioTech. Today, Lisa Alvarenga, San Antonio Project Coordinator for Libraries Without Borders, shares how WALI works and what her work means to her and the larger community.


Trips to the laundromat with mom were a weekly staple of my childhood. I absolutely hated it. We’d spend maybe two hours there but, as any kid knows, two hours can seem like an eternity. I’d enviously watch the more rambunctious kids ride around in the carts, wishing that were me. My mother could see me eyeballing the carts and she’d quickly tell me “Ni se atreve! (Don’t you dare!).” I spent hours getting dizzy as I watched the washers spin round and round, flashes of color blurred together.


When I first heard of Libraries Without Borders’ Wash and Learn Initiative (WALI)  I thought, “Whoa! That’s such a good idea!.” WALI aims to bridge the digital divide by bringing technology and library programming to laundromats. Some stuff just makes sense. Peanut butter and jelly. Cereal and milk. Laundromats and community resources. WALI meets the community where they are and acts as a facilitator to community resources already available. 


As the San Antonio Project Coordinator for WALI, I am tasked with the duty of building partnerships and bringing them to the laundromat. I started my new role by conducting interest surveys at the laundromats. What did community members want to see in the laundromat? Did they want to learn about digital literacy? How to improve their health? How to do their taxes? Their answers served as my guide for programming and partners to bring in to the laundromat. I became a regular fixture in the laundromat and the customers started recognizing me.


Before I knew it, we were installing the technology into the laundromat — a Chromebook and two tablets for the customers to use while they are waiting for their clothes. In September, we ran on our first programming session, a children’s storytime. It was quiet but caught the attention of customers. And, today, we are officially launching our programming schedule with our anchor partners, Google Fiber, San Antonio Public Library and Bexar County BiblioTech, with more partners to come.


The impact of WALI hit me at a literacy programming session just a few days ago. A local librarian read to one of the kids at the laundromat while his brother, curious but shy, hid under a table and listened in. I watched them during story time and thought about how that could have been me. The day before, at our Culebra site, I helped a woman log in to a website that would help her learn English, and couldn’t help but think of my mom. 


These opportunities are universal. WALI is about giving people what they need in an unexpected but necessary place. Libraries Without Borders means we go where people are, so you’ll find me at the laundromat.






Posted by Lisa Alvarenga, San Antonio Project Coordinator, Libraries Without Borders



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We’re closing out our Digital Inclusion Week series with a post from Raleigh, NC. Habib Khadri, a sophomore at UNC-Chapel Hill in Computer Science and Business Administration, is an alum of the City of Raleigh’s Digital Connector program, sponsored by Google Fiber, which provides 14-18 year olds with technology and leadership training.

Being a leader isn’t reserved for individuals who are already placed in positions of authority, but rather invites individuals who possess determination, initiative, and a proactive mindset to step up and take charge. I have held numerous positions in clubs, organizations, and at work, but I cannot say I was a leader solely due to the title I was given. There are a multitude of initiatives where I was simply just a member, but can recall exact moments where I felt I exemplified what it means to be a leader.

Moving to Raleigh allowed me to participate in Raleigh Digital Connectors, a program for teenagers from backgrounds that are underrepresented in the technology industry. With support from Google Fiber, Digital Connectors offered leadership development aligned with community-based service projects. The program was close to my high school but the drastic difference in neighborhoods showed me the wealth gap that exists in Raleigh. The program’s classes were held in a low socioeconomic area where parents feared to drop off their children. My background coupled with my analytical nature allowed me to construct and present ideas to “bridge the divide” between socioeconomic classes within Raleigh. I was in the program for two years only to be invited back to be an instructor and later on, the speaker for two years in a row at the annual commencement ceremony.

Raleigh Digital Connectors has an annual program called “The Oak City Techathon” which enabled me to become an instructor within my community. Whether it was creating a Facebook account for senior citizens and allowing them to connect with long lost friends or teaching young kids how to assemble basic robots, I was able to spark a newfound interest in a multitude of groups scattered across the city of Raleigh. I knew these people would learn and then be inspired to teach what they learn to their peers. 

I want to work toward eliminating the wealth gap and bring communities together so everyone has access to resources that are only available in the affluent areas. I think a step toward equity between these communities is to promote programs such as Raleigh Digital Connectors. I feel it is my experiences that enable me to be a global leader. Being a leader doesn’t mean just sitting back and delegating tasks, but involves hands-on experience and the ambition to want to better your community, whether it be local or global. I learned that even when you feel insignificant, everybody has to start somewhere.

Posted by Habib Khadri, UNC-Chapel Hill student and Raleigh Digital Connectors alum



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Our Digital Inclusion Week guest blog series continues with Anthony Rea of the Mattie Rhodes Center, which has been serving the community in Kansas City for 125 years.

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I should preface that this story is really about digital inclusion, but I just wanted to give a little context to the how and why we do what we do with young people and the leadership they offer us when we give them space to learn and question.

I used to instruct digital photography in the Pilsen community of Chicago between 2009 and 2013. It was a community going through drastic changes with gentrification and new developments transforming the landscape of the neighborhood. My group of young people tasked ourselves with the job of documenting the people and spaces that made up their community – actively responding to their transforming environment and personal histories. It was an exciting time for all of us – the work was beautiful but more importantly, it communicated something important, and our young people were the ones leading that communication through their art-making.

Fast forward to a little over a year ago -- I’m in Kansas City’s historic Northeast community working with Mattie Rhodes Center watching our after school instructors work on a stop-motion animation with students using the instructors' phones and makeshift tripods. I’m sitting there thinking how these young people needed the right tools – how we needed a photo/video program. So I start to draft up a program (and a budget) that would put tablets in the hands of our young people, we would produce imagery and audio projects that told their stories and stories of their community – they would respond to the issues that impacted them the most, so ultimately these amazing young people could build skills around social media, representation, communication, and image-making. After personally shopping the proposal around to a few funders my boss said there was a Google Fiber representative that wanted to know what plans we had regarding technology and digital inclusion. I handed her my proposal, and we were off!

Now, fast-forward several months and our Digital Media Lab, sponsored by Google FIber, has been working with students at our Northeast Mattie Rhodes Center location since Spring 2019. Students have explored self-portraiture and representation explicating who they are and where they hope to be in life. More importantly, they have been learning to use this tablet – this iPad as an actual place of artistic production. Expanding on the consuming function that many of us might consider, our youth are learning more about this device, the various available apps that they can access to create and share their creative and visual ideas, and how to responsibly share through social media.

We have also started to engage community members through a Community Photo Booth that we created. Our setup is a simple one, with iPads and tripods. Many of our students talked about their families not having “professional” family portraits. That discussion quickly took us into saying, “Why can’t we be our own professionals?” So we looked at portraiture and imagery that we appreciated and held our first public event last May. The photo booth created an opportunity for our students to be the “professional” photographers in the neighborhood for their families and community. They manage the process, have forms and use Flickr as a way to share the photos with our participants. 

We are now building the photo booth idea into our Digital Media Lab so that more students can go through the steps and will eventually build videography skills. The goal is to transform our students into a mobile portrait and video team taking family portraits in the area and collecting narratives from our Northeast Kansas City residents. 

By providing space to learn how to use the tools, our students have the opportunity to do something really exciting with technology. They are moving beyond just being passive consumers of imagery but actual producers of it -- taking control of not just their imagery and representation, but even how their immediate friends and family and ultimately their community is seen. Digital inclusion isn’t just about the technology, it’s about the connection, and that’s what these kids are doing every day.

Posted by Anthony Marcos Rea, Youth Development Coordinator, Digital Media Lab at the Mattie Rhodes Center.



Top photo caption: clockwise from upper left corner 1. Hailie Freeman, Lincoln Middle School; 2. Perla Ramos, Frontier Middle School; 3. Emma Courtice, Lincoln Middle School; 4. Diego Montes, Frontier Middle School; 5. Darianna Marquez, Lincoln College Prep HS; 6. Dominic Ramos, Frontier Middle School. From "Selfies & the Portrait," Spring 2019 and "Layering the Self Portrait using PhotoshopMix," Fall 2019.

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In celebration of Digital Inclusion Week, we’re featuring posts from our incredible partners across the country who are working to broaden Internet access and build digital literacy in our Google Fiber Cities. Today’s blog comes from Community Tech Network’s Director of Programs, Jessica Looney, in Austin, Texas.

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The Internet is essential to so many aspects of our lives today and it is critical that everyone, regardless of income, education level or age, has the access and the digital skills they need. Yet today, many people still do not have access to digital tools like the Internet, computers, or the skills to utilize them. Even in a tech-forward city like Austin, Texas, there are roughly 55,000 households without a broadband internet connection. 

This is why the Community Tech Network (CTN) and Google Fiber partner to bridge that divide here in Austin. CTN’s mission is to transform lives through digital literacy and has over 11 years of experience helping people cross the digital divide. 

Having been a presence in Austin for over two years now, CTN is pleased to be a part of Austin’s vibrant digital community and excited to work with partners such as Google Fiber, City of Austin and Austin Independent School District (AISD). CTN recently collaborated with the City’s Innovation Team to develop a Digital Device Drop-in program for People Experiencing Homelessness (PEH). Each week CTN volunteers attend a shift at the Terrazas branch of the Austin Public Library and provide drop-in help to anyone with questions about their device, Smartphones, using email, social media, and more. 

CTN also works with AISD to meet the needs of low-income parents seeking digital literacy training on specific AISD digital platforms. With the support of Google Fiber, and in partnership with another local non-profit, Latinitas, the Digital Parents Program will provide basic digital skills, in both English and Spanish, to parents to help them participate in their child’s education and communicate more effectively with the teachers and school. CTN plans to serve 25-30 parents at Martin Junior High School as part of a pilot. If successful, CTN hopes to engage parents in four additional schools to reach hundreds of families. 

To celebrate this year’s Digital Inclusion Week, CTN is hosting Tech Teach-In (TTI) events focused on providing digital skills training to adults and seniors. One of these events will connect Google Fiber volunteers to residents at Wildflower Terrace, a Family Eldercare senior housing community. Tech Teach-Ins are half day events that engage corporate volunteers who deliver digital skills training. Volunteers help job seekers apply for employment, parents reach their children’s teachers, older adults research healthcare information and low-income residents access social services. Over the last year, CTN has conducted six TTI events serving over 100 low-income senior residents in the Austin area.

We’re very proud to continue to partner with Google Fiber as CTN continues the ongoing mission to unite organizations and volunteers to transform lives through digital literacy. If you are interested in becoming a partner, contact Kami Griffiths, Executive Director/Co-founder at kami@communitytechnetwork.org. If you are interested in volunteering with CTN, please email volunteer@communitytechnetwork.org. 

Posted by Jessica Looney, Director of Programs, Community Tech Network, Austin, TX








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Our Digital Inclusion Week series kicks off with Shauna Edson of the Salt Lake City Public Library. Shauna is a former Google Fiber-sponsored NTEN Digital Inclusion Fellow. She now serves as the Library’s Digital Inclusion Coordinator and is a Fellow with the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA). 

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I first became aware of digital inclusion work when I was working on my undergraduate classes at the University of Utah. I didn’t have an internet connection in my apartment or a smartphone, and I quickly learned how much that complicated my education. To turn in assignments, access readings, and do everything else students need to do online I had to go to a public computer lab. I was also a single parent at the time, and that meant I either had to pay for childcare or bring my tweens with me to the computer lab, pay for parking, and try to fit going to the lab in between my classes and the three part-time jobs I was juggling. I don’t know if you have any experience studying while trying to keep your kids entertained in a public space, but it didn’t work out well for me. 

Once I became aware of how digital inequities were impacting my own life, I began to notice the effect it had on others as well. Everyday tasks are moving to digital spaces, and having access to broadband, innovative technologies, and the knowledge to know how to use it in a meaningful way is essential to fully participating in society. Today, the Internet is used for so much of our daily lives: online banking and managing finances; accessing health records and remote doctor visits; gaining employment, workforce development, and economic growth; education; entertainment; socializing with family and friends; and more. 

Digital equity is when everyone can easily access and use technologies to communicate, learn, work, and play. All individuals and communities have the information technology capacity needed for full participation in our society, civic engagement, economy, and access to essential services. Digital inclusion is the work we need to do to achieve digital equity, and it must evolve as technology advances. Digital equity impacts all of those in communities, and it takes a whole community working together to address digital divides. Google Fiber is an active partner in this work in Utah. 

In January of 2018, Utah Communities Connect: Utah’s Digital Alliance held their first meeting. It started when Salt Lake City was selected as a ConnectHomeUSA community in 2017, and several organizations worked together on a kick-off event. The event garnered interest in digital inclusion in Utah and local governments, libraries, housing authorities, academics, nonprofit organizations, and private industry stakeholders, including Google Fiber, formed the alliance. 

Almost two years later, we are happy to host the inaugural Utah Digital Summit as part of NDIA’s  Digital Inclusion Week and with Google Fiber as a supporter. Utah Digital Summit is a collaboration between Utah Communities Connect and the Utah Broadband Association as part of the ongoing effort to bring community partners together to raise awareness and build the "digital equity movement" in Utah. Digital equity is a long term effort that will take continued collaboration by a broad cross-section of stakeholders. This week's summit is a great step forward on that journey.


Posted by Shauna Edson, Digital Inclusion Coordinator, Salt Lake City Public Library.




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Today marks the beginning of Digital Inclusion Week -- a week where Google Fiber joins a collective effort to highlight organizations providing computer training, affordable devices and Internet access to people on the wrong side of the digital divide.


In 2019, getting a job, an educational degree, or even the latest bus schedule can depend on your access to the Internet and how good you are at navigating the online world once you are there. The division between the digital “haves” and “have nots” will only grow wider without the intervention of organizations dedicated to building residents’ digital skills and access.  


Google Fiber partners closely with digital inclusion organizations nationally and in each of the cities where we operate. In fact, we couldn’t do our jobs without them. It’s why we support national programs like NTEN’s Digital Inclusion Fellowship -- a program Google Fiber co-founded in 2015 and that is now in its fifth cohort -- and resources like the National Digital Inclusion Alliance’s Digital Inclusion Start-Up Manual.


It’s also why we have signed on as a supporter of the the Digital Equity Act of 2019. In the U.S., digital inclusion programs have traditionally been developed locally and funded locally. The Digital Equity Act aims to change that by authorizing over $1 billion in federal funding over five years to support state and local plans and programs. We believe this bill will generate a much needed set of state strategies and a more stable source of funding to support the organizations providing training to residents in cities across the U.S. You can help! Write to your Senator and Congressperson and tell them to vote to support the Digital Equity Act.


And check back here on the Google Fiber blog every day this week to meet some of the dedicated people and digital inclusion groups we’re working with across the country to hear firsthand about what’s happening in their communities. We are privileged to work alongside them, and to help in their important work.


Posted by John Burchett, Director, Communications, Policy, & Community Affairs, and Parisa Fatehi - Weeks, Head of Equity, Inclusion & Community Impact

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