Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Information Access In Rural Areas Of The United States: The Public Library’S Role In The Digital Divide And The Implications Of Differing State Funding Models, Jennifer Sue Thiele

Theses and Dissertations

In the United States, individual states have different means of determining and distributing funding. This influences library service and access to information particularly as it pertains to critical Internet access. Funding and service trends have changed, especially as it relates to public libraries, with some modifications working to their advantage and some to their detriment. Public libraries struggle to meet the needs of their users as more information becomes available online. This is especially true in rural areas that have unique challenges such as a very small tax base and limited budgets, space constraints and dated buildings, limited opportunities for …