去看看那些依靠圖書館上網的美國人是如何應對這種流行病的

自3月中旬以來，COVID-19已經導致美國各地的圖書館關閉。不到三分之二的美國人在農村地區的家裡有寬頻網際網路連線。這個標記寫了圖書館試圖讓使用者線上的方式。很值得一讀。...

自3月中旬以來，COVID-19已經導致美國各地的圖書館關閉。不到三分之二的美國人在農村地區的家裡有寬頻網際網路連線。這個標記寫了圖書館試圖讓使用者線上的方式。很值得一讀。

在愛荷華州切羅基鎮，大約40%的學齡兒童沒有網際網路接入。切羅基公共圖書館館長泰勒·哈恩（Tyler Hahn）對《標記報》說，他以前為該鎮居民提供的許多服務不得不採取新的形式。圖書館全天候開放Wi-Fi，孩子們坐在停車場用**。哈恩透過大樓的窗戶喊出指示，幫助老年使用者上網。

“We have a lot of people who switched from shopping in stores to using Amazon for the first time in their lives, said Hahn. “Through the window, we were walking them through the steps.”

People have also come to the library to ask Hahn for the phone number to call to apply for unemployment benefits, since they can’t look it up online themselves, he said. They’ve dropped dollar bills through the book slot to pay for printouts of forms.

全國各地的圖書館也不得不採取類似的非傳統方法。一些人在他們的社群周圍安裝額外的路由器，把Wi-Fi帶到“流動的圖書**”裡，甚至把熱點地區借給別人。不過，這並不是所有地方的現實解決方案：

Hahn, the Cherokee Library director, says he would love to lend out Wi-Fi hotspots in addition to the few Chromebooks his library has but thinks community need is so vast that any program he started with current resources would be quickly overwhelmed. The local public high school let students bring laptops home to use for their (voluntary) remote-learning program, but not hotspots, he said.

Several librarians independently said that their hotspot-lending programs are “just a drop in the bucket” or “just a Band-Aid” to the overwhelming need for reliable internet and the basic skills to use it.

“Even to work at McDonald’s, you’ll get a 30-page online application, and if you’re not comfortable with the drop-down menu, this is really going to be a challenge,” said Kate Eppler, manager of The Bridge at Main, a literacy and learning center in the San Francisco Public Library system.

其他圖書館則提供路邊取書、舉辦Facebook現場閱讀活動、向學生分發書籍和藝術用品、列印和郵寄失業申請書，甚至用3D印表機和縫紉機**面罩和盾牌。

“Never before did people need access more—in a day and age where the government is requiring more and more to happen online—than during a pandemic,” said Johnson [CEO and president of Brooklyn Public Library]. “It is a true perfect storm: The deprivation is more extreme than ever, and the need is higher.”

Markup的文章很好地展示了流感大流行對農村低收入社群的獨特影響，是一本很好的讀物。