Job seekers without Internet access stretch libraries' computers
By Ev Hu, The Oregonian
May 21, 2009 - When Regina Alilat got laid off three weeks ago, it felt like the lights had gone out.
Not only was she reeling from the loss of the administrative assistant job she'd held for eight years, but without her work computer she felt as if she'd lost her ability to function in the world.
Alilat, like four in 10 Americans, has no computer at home in a country where nearly everything happens on the Web.
"Nowadays, if you're not online, you're way behind," Alilat, a Northeast Portland resident, says. "It hinders my entire life."
The 33-year-old finds herself on the wrong side of a digital divide blown wider by the sinking economy. Like thousands across the metro area, she's turned to the only place she knows where she can easily access computers for free: the public library.
"The library is really a lifesaver for so many people in the community because they've never had a computer at home or can no longer afford Internet access," says Cindy Gibbon, access services coordinator for the Multnomah County Library. "It is essential for so many basic life activities."
Nearly 73 percent of libraries provide the only source of free computer and Internet access in their communities, according to the American Library Association. Libraries, one of the first agencies to provide computers for the public, adapted the role as part of their mission to provide free information.
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