Libraries and Schools Join Hands to Connect New Mexico Pueblos

On October 30, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society will be releasing Broadband for America's Future: A Vision for the 2020s. The release is a major step in a multi-year effort to update America’s approach to broadband access for the coming decade. Over the last year or so, we've been speaking with people around the country about how communities are addressing their broadband needs. We know that community anchor institutions — schools, libraries, healthcare providers and others — play a key role in bringing service to broadband deserts. Our friends at the American Library Association (ALA) alerted us to how the Middle Rio Grande project is connecting pueblos in New Mexico. As the release of our report nears, we think it is important to share some of the innovative solutions that we've heard. A forthcoming case study by the ALA examines how tribal libraries and schools in north-central New Mexico came together to address their own broadband connectivity challenges. As Kimball Sekaquaptewa, now chief technology director at Santa Fe Indian School, said, “If the incumbent providers weren’t willing to build out in our area, we were willing to own and operate our own internet infrastructure.”

[Jonathan Sallet is a Benton Senior Fellow]