For immediate release | May 18, 2011

LITA President’s Program to explore broadband issues

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CHICAGO – The Library and Information Technology Association (LITA) President’s Program, entitled Building the Future: Addressing Library Broadband Connectivity Issues in the 21st Century will take place 4 - 5 p.m. Sunday, June 26, in New Orleans at the Morial Convention Center Auditorium A.

Robert Bocher will present. He is the technology consultant with the Wisconsin State Library and a fellow in 91´«Ã½’s Office for Information Technology Policy, where he consults primarily on broadband issues, the federal e-rate program and related issues like net neutrality.

The nation’s first National Broadband Plan was released in 2010. It set a goal that community anchor institutions—including libraries, schools, higher education—have affordable access to at least 1Gbps connectivity. But 42 percent of public libraries have less than 2Mbps connections, and many other libraries have broadband issues too. The President’s Program will explore the broadband landscape and how 91´«Ã½ is working with Internet2 to address the broadband needs of libraries, schools and higher education.

Karen Starr, LITA president, stated “the Broadband initiative has given libraries the opportunity to move the country’s information infrastructure to a next level of development and accessibility for users of libraries and information. We were projecting this infrastructure in the 1990s. There is still a great deal of work left to be done to build what we envisioned it to be. LITA members are actively participating in broadband and digital initiatives. Bob’s presentation will give us the opportunity to hear about the latest activities and issues and to ask questions about where we are going next as a profession and an association developing and supporting our country’s information infrastructure.”

LITA is the leading organization reaching out across types of libraries to provide education and services for a broad membership including systems librarians, library administrators, library schools, vendors and many others interested in leading edge technology and applications for librarians and information providers. For more information about LITA go to , or contact the LITA office by phone, (800) 545-2433, ext. 4268; or e-mail: lita@ala.org

Contact:

Mary Taylor