E-rate: the agony and the ecstacy

摘要

Despite the filtering requirements added by the Children's Internet Protection Act, librarians who have previously filed for the e-rate should continue to do so (unless they're completely burned out on the bureaucratic burdens of the application process). As the FCC has been interpreting CIPA and the e-rate, even if you choose not to filter you can still get discounts on your data lines and your internal connections. And you should continue to file for discounts on your Internet connections--you can always refuse the money if CIPA is upheld in court. Bob Bocher's E-Rate FAQ at www.dpi.state.wi.us/dpi/dlcl/pld/cipafaq.html is the best resource on the topic (and my own PLA TechNote on filtering at www.pla.org/technotes/filtering.html is a nice companion). Alyce J. Bowers, director of Atlantic County (N.J.) Public Library, offered this important advice: "File separate applications for separate services. Do not combine your Internet with your telecommunications or POTS Plain Old Telephone Service , but do three or more separate applications." If something goes wrong, you only lose funding for that application, not all your services. Her library has received dollar 178,000 this year--a nice pile of dinero. Believe it or not, my best experience with the Universal Service Administrative Company's Schools and Libraries Division (which administers the e-rate program) was with an auditor (who shall remain nameless) who gently prodded me to go back and find phone bills that would ensure our application matched what we were claiming as our average telco expenses. You know who you are, you nice person! Others have commented on the help desk. John Richmond of Alpha Park Public Library District in Bartonville, Illinois, told me, "Despite the bureaucracy of it all, the real, live people I've spoken with at the help desk have been patient and kind." The application process is painful. Mary Satterwhite of Temple Terrace (Fla.