The LRS Number

SHLB Coalition report estimates that it would cost $13-$19 billion to connect all community anchor institutions to high-speed broadband internet

February 2018

The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition recently released a report prepared by CTC Technology & Energy estimating how much it would cost to expand high-speed, fiber optic broadband internet to community anchor institutions – schools, libraries, hospitals, health care clinics, community colleges, and other public institutions that do not currently have direct fiber […]

UNICEF report finds that 7 in 10 young people worldwide are digitally connected

January 2018

UNICEF recently released The State of the World’s Children 2017: Children in a Digital World. This report examines the impact that digital technology has had on the lives of children all over the world. Young people are the most digitally connected age group worldwide. Seven in 10 (71%) young people use the internet, compared to […]

Fourth-graders in the U.S. rank 15th in literacy in an international reading literacy study

December 2017

The National Center for Education Statistics recently released a first look at the results of the 2016 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) and the new ePIRLS. This assessment is administered every five years to fourth-graders in participating countries around the world. PIRLS assesses student performance in reading literacy, while ePIRLS, administered for the […]

Study finds that the learning environment at home prior to kindergarten impacts children’s academic performance in 5th grade

November 2017

A study recently published in Applied Developmental Science measured the connection between children’s home environments before kindergarten and children’s academic skills during their 5th grade year. The study found that “early home learning environments related to children’s academic skills up to 10 years later across all subgroups studied–White, Black, Hispanic, English-speaking, Hispanic Spanish-speaking” (13). Children’s […]

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation study shows that academic library employees remain mostly female and white despite a push for diversity

November 2017

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation recently released the results of a study examining diversity in academic libraries. Ithaka S+R was commissioned to survey member institutions of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) to find out how the academic library community perceives its progress towards more inclusive and diverse libraries. Across the ARL libraries surveyed, about […]