Community helpers

Since December 2021, the Atlantic City Free Public Library, in partnership with the T-Mobile Company and city nonprofit organizations, has distributed Android tablets to low-income households who lack access to connected devices and broadband access to the internet, and to city nonprofit organizations to give to their clients, as part of the library’s Atlantic City Digital Inclusion Project. As of mid-January, the library had distributed all 1,000 of the tablets it had received. There was no cost to those who received tablets. The project is part of the Emergency Connectivity Fund Program established by the Federal Communication Commission to provide funding for libraries for the purchase of connected devices and broadband connections for use by students and library patrons. The tablets came pre-loaded with icons for the library’s website. The project is scheduled to end June 30, when devices are due to be returned to the library.