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Garcia-Ortiz discusses how Yakima Valley Libraries (YVL) took on COVID-19 and the digital divide. The Yakima Valley WA's rural county library district was formed in 1945; today, the district comprises a central library, 16 community libraries, and an express library, serving more than 250,000 Yakima County residents. In 2019, the library district was open a total of 36,011 hours and welcomed 618,751 visitors. Under normal circumstances, providing library services in their area can be challenging, but once the COVID-19 pandemic was declared, they started looking for data to help guide their decision-making process in response. Because these decisions needed to be made as soon as possible, they based many of them on existing internal and external data, mostly from census tools and regional data reports.
Yakima Valley Libraries (YVL) is located in beautiful, agricultural Yakima County in south-central Washington state. Yakima County, which is also home to the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, occupies 4,296 square miles, making it the second-largest county by land area in the state. The agriculture industry has been the bedrock of the region's economy since its founding more than 150 years ago.
The Yakima Valley's rural county library district was formed in 1945; today, the district comprises a central library, 16 community libraries, and an express library, serving more than 250,000 Yakima County residents. With the exception of the city of Grandview, which has its own library, every city and town in Yakima County has either annexed to, or contracted with, YVL for library services.
In 2019, the library district was open a total of 36,011 hours and welcomed 618,751 visitors. We circulated more than 1,005,350 items and hosted 108,383 computer appointments via the 154 internet-connected computers available to the public. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic challenged all of those metrics. We had to become more distanced and our services more virtual, but that potentially left key segments of our community out. Let me tell you how we responded.
The Yakima Valley is an agricultural region.
From Diversity to Divide
Under normal circumstances, providing library services in our area can be challenging, but once the COVID-19 pandemic was declared, we started looking for data to help guide our decision-making process in response. Because these decisions needed to be made as soon as possible, we based many of them on existing internal and external data, mostly from census tools and regional data reports.
For example, census data (Quick Facts, accessed 3/1/21) shows that 50.2% of the Yakima County population is Hispanic or Latino, and 42.3 % of residents consider themselves white and not Hispanic or Latino. Native Americans make up 6.7% of the population, while African American and Asian residents comprise 1.6% of the population, respectively. In terms of education, 26.3% of Yakima County residents older than 25 lack a high school diploma or other secondary education equivalents. Sixteen percent of residents younger than 65 don't have health insurance, and almost 17% of the population lives in poverty. Another critical element of diversity in the county is the language spoken at home: 41.2% of residents-nearly 100,000 people-age 5 and older speak a language other than English at home, with the vast majority being Spanish-speakers.
During the brief time at the beginning of the pandemic when we remained open to the public, we created an emergency response plan, which included different phases for the provision of library service based on the state of Washington's Roadmap to Recovery plan. The goal was to ensure that we maintained required health and safety standards for patrons and staff during each stage of library services. We acquired sneeze guards, began quarantining items and took additional sanitizing measures, implemented new self-checkout settings to minimize the number of interactions with the touchscreen, and made sure that seating in our computer labs was spaced according to social-distancing standards.
When Washington's lockdown order was issued, we shifted to providing only online circulation and reference services to our patrons. Many of these resources were already accessible on our website's digital and educational resources pages, including a catalog of ebooks and digital audiobooks. In addition to our existing offerings, we began providing online programs: storytimes, baby lapsit, trivia games, book clubs in English and Spanish, and book and movie reviews on our YouTube channel.
Despite our efforts to offer online services and support, we were aware that patrons affected by the digital divide would not be able to use our virtual services and programs. To help bridge the gap, we began work on a plan to extend the reach of our online services by partnering with-and gathering data from-school districts, nonprofit groups, and organizations that assist people who are living in extreme poverty.
After receiving information from families and school staffers, we found that many rural students lacked adequate access to the internet. This observation is supported by the most recent census data, which reveals that 19.7% of Yakima County households don't have a broadband internet subscription. The lack of broadband access is highest in rural parts of Yakima County, as these areas don't have the infrastructure to support broadband connectivity. However, many county residents without access to the internet reside in urban areas that are challenged by poverty.
In addition, approximately 9.7% of residents who responded to a recent YVL survey reported that although they do have internet access, their home internet was unreliable, making their internet connections less than ideal for the digital classrooms, videoconferencing, and streaming services that became vital during the pandemic.
Bridging the Divide
It was very clear that the widespread lack of internet service, connectivity, and reliability in Yakima County was a problem that needed to be solved. So we began working on solutions to help bridge the digital divide for library patrons who do not have-or cannot afford-internet access.
Drive-In Wi-Fi
With support from the Washington State Library, the Drive-In Wi-Fi model is one of the first methods we explored to expand internet access for our patrons. This model was created by André-Denis Wright (dean of the College of Agricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences at Washington State University) and has since expanded to a collaboration with the Washington State Broadband Office (WSBO), Washington State University Extension, Washington Library Association (WLA), Washington Technology Solutions (WaTech), and Washington Independent Telecommunications Association (WITA).
Through this program, we learned that we could install equipment at some of our community libraries in order to greatly extend Wi-Fi outside of the library building. This equipment permits the expansion of existing broadband connectivity-which has been underused during the COVID-19 crisis-by using existing networks that are already funded by state and federal monies.
Although the Drive-In Wi-Fi model does not expand networks to patrons' homes, each access point extends the Wi-Fi connection to a 1,000-2,000-foot diameter radius, providing an immediate increase in internet access that Washington residents, students, and workers can conveniently access from a library's parking lot or outdoor area.
After evaluating the service, YVL's IT department recommended five ideal locations for the installation of the Drive-In Wi-Fi equipment. In determining which Yakima County communities would most benefit from the service, we looked for libraries that had high internet usage before and after the pandemic, in addition to libraries with enough parking and/or outdoor space to support the DriveIn Wi-Fi model. The library locations chosen were the Buena, Mabton, and Granger branches, as well as the Wapato and Toppenish branches, which are on the Yakima Indian Reservation. All of the selected libraries serve rural communities that face a high rate of poverty.
Drive-In Wi-Fi equipment was installed at all five locations in two rounds, and the measure immediately yielded successful results. In fact, use of the service became so heavy at the Buena Community Library that additional garbage bins had to be added outside of the building to accommodate the influx of patrons using the parking lot and outdoor spaces while accessing the internet.
Sora and School Partnerships
In July 2020, YVL and the Selah School District partnered to offer Sora, a digital resource that increases students' access to ebooks and e-audiobooks by combining the schools' and the library's digital reading resources in one app. Sora, which is an OverDrive product, uses the school's credentials to authenticate students and faculty members using the app. It provides access to thousands of YVL's ebooks and e-audiobooks for students use. In addition, Sora supports teachers by offering education-specific tools such as achievements, exportable notes, and reading progress that encourage individualized learning.
Website Updates
Curbside and doorstep delivery (for homebound patrons) services were offered as soon as the state Roadmap to Recovery plan allowed. To streamline our contactless pickup service, we added a new landing page to our website and modified our events calendar software to allow patrons to find and schedule a contactless pickup appointment at any community library.
In order to better serve our Spanish-speaking patrons, a new informational page was added to the website. The page includes a dedicated place for online assistance in Spanish and a manual Spanish translator plugin to improve automatic translations of website content. A digital library page was created to consolidate all available YVL digital resources.
Online Services, Programs, and Resources
Prior to the pandemic, patrons were able to schedule appointments with librarians for up to 1 hour of reference assistance. After the closure of library buildings, we began to offer this service virtually in addition to establishing a team of librarians to respond to basic reference emails and questions from our patrons. Our librarians use video-editing software to create how-to videos and instruct patrons on the use of select library resources, along with offering live, interactive workshops on popular topics such as genealogy. We used the Reader Zone app for the 2020 summer reading program, allowing kids and teens to digitally sign up and track their reading progress.
With more and more patrons using wireless devices and as social distancing concerns persist, another much-needed solution is the implementation of wireless printing. YVL is in the process of rolling out a service that lets library patrons wirelessly pay for and submit print jobs for pickup at their local community library. Due to the increase in patron requests for virtual assistance, we also soon plan to offer a live chat feature, allowing patrons to receive real-time assistance for general inquiries about their library accounts, library services, and resources.
In Conclusion
We confronted the pandemic by immediately looking for solutions to continue delivering services to our patrons: first, by going online and second, by providing contactless curbside pickup. We used the Drive-In Wi-Fi model to expand internet access in the communities that most needed the service. Management looked at this challenge as an opportunity to be strategically prepared for the future and prove that we are an active and essential player in our community. Our 17 libraries are now open with limited inperson services. We are still looking for new ways to collect detailed and inclusive data to identify service gaps and future community needs. Exploring technological solutions (hotspots, laptops, etc.) to help those affected by the digital divide and finding useful solutions to keep building community during and after the pandemic are our primary goals.
Resources
ALA. (2020, July 15). COVID-19 Recovery. Tools, Publications, and Resources. ala.org/tools/covid-19-recovery.
U.S. Census Bureau. (2021). Census Bureau QuickFacts: Yakima County, Washington. census.gov/auickfacts/fact/table/vakimacountvwashington/ PST045219
Veronda, O., Garrido, M., Rothschild, C., and Garcia-Ortiz, F (2021, Jan. 2226). The Future of Data: Libraries as Catalysts for Creating More Inclusive Data [Conference session]. 2021 Virtual ALA Midwinter Conference. eventscribe.net/2021/ALA-Midwinter/fsPopup.asp?Mode=presInfo&Presen tationID = 801 935
Washington Office of Washington State Broadband Office. (2020, March 31). "DriFI" Drive-In Wifi Hotspots: Project Statewide Public Access To "DriFI" Drive-In WiFi Hotspots for Telehealth, Remote Learning, Telework, Unemployment Filing, and Census Participation. ocio wa gov/sites/default/ f¡les/Dr¡F¡-Dr¡ve-In-W¡F¡-Hotspots-Pro¡ect-Scope-DRAFT-040120%20%281% 29 pdf?2nh3yj
Washington State Department of Commerce. (2020, Nov. 5). Washington State Drive-In WiFi Hotspots Location Finder. commerce.wa.gov/buildinginfrastructure/washington-state-drive-in-wifi-hotspots-location-finder
Copyright Information Today, Inc. Jun 2021