By Marcia Parnell
With the installation of fiber-optic, high-speed Internet service completed in Becket and Washington over three years ago, it seemed the work of the respective town broadband teams was done. But the availability of grant money to take it a step further, by improving digital access and literacy, represented too great an opportunity to pass up. Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC) Senior Planner for Economic Development Wylie Goodman, Becket’s broadband committee chair Bob Gross, and his Washington counterpart Kent Lew collaborated on a Digital Equity Plan and subsequent Implementation Program submission to the Massachusetts Broadband Institute at the Mass Tech Collaborative. The result was a $117K grant award. Says Lew, “There were so many commonalities between the two towns that we decided it made sense to pool our resources, with Becket as the lead community.”
How did they define “Digital Access and Literacy” and where are the gaps that need to be addressed? BRPC surveyed some local organizations like the Becket Athenaeum, Councils on Aging, and the Yoked Parish of Becket—all with firm roots in the community—and identified pockets of need. Explains Lew, “Now that we have high-speed Internet, we want to make sure that the members of our community have the access, skills, and knowledge to participate fully.”
To that end, the team is targeting three areas. Not all of the details have been worked out for each, but the groundwork has been laid. The first is access, and that means fiber-optic connection for a limited number of income-qualified residents who were unable to connect during the initial, subsidized offering. According to Lew, Becket and Washington estimate that anywhere from 10 to 20 percent of occupied homes are without broadband service. He expects income guidelines and other details to be finalized for the January rollout, so stay tuned.
Next is increasing the availability of current-generation devices by upgrading library computers and making more laptops available for library lending at the Athenaeum. Purchasing individual laptops would be costly and have limited reach.
The third area is digital literacy, which is comprised of two elements. First, each month a trained instructor will conduct two identical sessions, one at Becket Town Hall and the other at Washington Town Hall, on key topics of interest to residents of all ages. The first sessions in November addressed online shopping (just in time for the holidays). December’s are entitled “Protecting Your Personal Information Online” and will be held Tuesday, December 9th, at 6:30 pm at Becket Town Hall and Thursday, December 11th, at 2 pm at Washington Town Hall. Second, a skilled technical intern will be available at the Becket Athenaeum for anyone requiring individualized assistance. Timing and details will be announced as they are finalized.
The collaboration includes the skills of BRPC’s Wylie Goodman as the twice-monthly instructor through year-end when a trained AmeriCorps intern will take over. And ongoing program coordination will be managed by Kate Hubbell, the Athenaeum’s program coordinator, who has taken on this separate, additional assignment. She will be conducting informal surveys, identifying monthly topics, organizing digital literacy activities, and tracking community needs over time.
The program began in November and will run through October 2026. The Beat expects to provide updates as the initiative continues and will include instruction topics and details in the Community Calendar each month. For more information contact kate@bwlibrary.org.
