Gates Foundation pledges $57M to improve library Internet access in Vietnam, Poland, Romania

Gates Found. pledges $57M to overseas libraries

SEATTLE — The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will spend $57 million to improve Internet access at public libraries in Poland, Romania and Vietnam.

The grants announced this week will focus largely on training librarians to use Internet resources, to make it easier for library patrons to get vital information and educate themselves and their children, officials said.

“Our goal is really to use technology to make sure that we’re making the world a good place for everybody regardless of where they live,” said Deborah Jacobs, deputy director for the foundation’s Global Libraries program.

The foundation, headed by Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates and his wife, is also working with local governments and organizations to raise money for related expenses, like equipment and high-speed connections. In addition, Microsoft itself is donating millions of dollars worth of software to support the project.

The Gates foundation started more than a decade ago trying to bring Internet access to every library in the United States, and has since expanded its goal to help libraries around the world.

In November 2006, it announced similar grants for Botswana in Africa and Latvia and Lithuania in Eastern Europe.

The foundation does not expect its project to expand all over the world, but it does plan to share what it’s learned so others with similar goals will have a head start.

On the Net:

www.gatesfoundation.org