Advocacy Alert: E-rate

Kudos to the library community! Last week we asked you to file comments with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to show your support for WiFi funding in the E-rate program and at last count over 140 comments were on record!

Didn't file? No worries. The FCC makes it easy for you to participate in this very important proceeding. With the first deadline passed, we are now in the "reply period" and you can do two things to add your voice:

1. Use the template (doc) we provide to build your WiFi story and submit it.
2. Read the District Dispatch post that highlights some library comments and the ALA comments and use the template to file in support of those.

Regardless of which you choose, we encourage you to tailor your message to describe what is important to your community and which services your library provides that depend on WiFi and strong internet access to meet those needs. Does your library offer special programs that depend in WiFi? Do you know a patron who comes in to use your WiFi to look for jobs or have you seen a student doing homework on a tablet? These stories and examples are critical for the FCC to know about! The deadline to submit reply comments is November 7, 2017.

Read the District Dispatch post from last week for background on the Public Notice and the call to action.