From Availability to Accessibility: Why the Detroit Public Library Began Partnering with Coin Laundromats

How do you Google a question you do not know the specific vocabulary to phrase? How do you sort through all the answers that come up, and avoid the ads that provide false or misleading information? Many people that we work with do not find high-quality, web-based resources to be accessible, even though the resources are technically available. While accessibility is near impossible without availability, availability without accessibility is perhaps even more disappointing. In order to translate availability to accessibility, it's important to remember the importance of social connections. Community partnerships shape how people actually engage with new technologies. The families and individuals that need web-based resources often have different priorities than the organizations who are attempting to serve them. For these families and individuals, urgent priorities include making enough money to provide shelter, food and… clean clothing! While we know literacy, and digital literacy is important, it often takes a back seat to these more basic needs. This consideration of more basic needs is what led us to offer digital literacy programs inside laundromats.

[Allister Chang is Executive Director of Libraries Without Borders. Qumisha Goss is the Pre-Professional Librarian at the Parkman Branch of the Detroit Public Library]