Library distributes 1,000 tablets through Atlantic City Digital Inclusion Project

The Atlantic City Free Public Library – in partnership with the T-Mobile Company and city non-profit organizations – has distributed Android broadband-enabled tablets as part of the library’s Atlantic City Digital Inclusion Project.

The library provided tablets (Alcatel JOY TAB 2) to: city residents from low-income households who lack access to connected devices and broadband access to the internet, and to city non-profit organizations to give to their clients.

Photo: Latifah Thompson (left) and Jalisa Gibson (right), standing with Digital Inclusion Project Coordinator Elizabeth Trigg, were the first tablet recipients in December.

Guided by the library’s strategic plan and based on community workforce and development needs detailed in “The Report of the Atlantic City Restart and Recovery Working Group” from the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs in May 2021, the project sought to help bridge the digital divide that exists in Atlantic City by providing access to devices and internet connectivity to those who need it.

This Atlantic City Digital Inclusion Project is part of the Emergency Connectivity Fund Program, established by the Federal Communication Commission to provide funding for libraries for the purchase of connected devices and broadband connections for use by students and library patrons. As of mid-January 2022, the library had distributed all 1,000 of the tablets it had received. There was no cost to those who received tablets.

The tablets came pre-loaded with icons for the library’s website and some of its digital collections, such as hoopla, Overdrive and Comics Plus, to make the library’s eResources more accessible and available around the clock.

The Atlantic City Digital Inclusion Project is scheduled to end June 30, 2022, when devices are due to be returned to the library.

PHOTO GALLERY
From a Jan. 20 tablet distribution event at New York Avenue Apartments, in partnership with Friends in Action.
Row 1: Mayor Marty Small Sr. presents a tablet to Amarilis Bodden as Project Coordinator Elizabeth Trigg (left) and New York Avenue Apartment's Social Coordinator/Residential Specialist Michelle McArthur look on. Library Director Robert Rynkiewicz, Mayor Small, Trigg and library staff member Alissa Barrow.

Row 2: Doretha Adams holds her new tablet. Library Board of Trustees President Libbie Willis, Barrow, Trigg and Rynkiewicz are pictured with Friends in Action President Anthony Bower, who helped arranged distribution of the tablets to various senior apartment complexes.

Row 3: McArthur stands with Joel Hayes after he received a tablet.
At the Main Library: Donna Haight picked up tablets Jan. 20 at Main Library for residents of Covenant House, where she is DLC (Dove Learning Center) Specialist.