CTC Technology & Energy is proud to have prepared two white papers for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation—both aimed at helping libraries with technical and financial guidance as they navigate their needs for broadband today and in the future.

Our first report, “Connecting Libraries to the Future,” is intended to help library professionals strategically plan for their broadband needs. Because libraries serve entire communities, their bandwidth should, ideally, be far greater than the connections residents can access or afford in a coffee shop, at home, or anywhere else. One key recommendation in this report is to quantify the capacity a library needs—creating a bandwidth target that will enable the library not just to meet the public’s information needs, but to support such mission-advancing services as business incubators and telepresence. Read the full report here.

Our second report, “Technical Guidance Regarding Broadband Infrastructure for Libraries,” recognizes that despite the critical importance of broadband connections at public libraries, many community libraries simply do not have sufficient staff resources or technical expertise to secure adequate and competitively priced high-speed connections and network services for their institutions. This paper is designed to aid library staff in making knowledgeable decisions about how to improve their broadband connectivity and create robust networks. Read the full report here.