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Find similar grantsDigital Equity Act Programs is sponsored by Illinois Office of Broadband. Aims to ensure all Illinoisans have access to quality and affordable broadband and digital skills.
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Broadband & Digital Equity | Reaching Across Illinois Library System Digital Equity and Libraries Libraries are critical in helping the residents of Illinois participate in the digital economy. You provide access to the internet and connected devices, offer digital skills training, and keep patrons informed about new technology.
RAILS is working to provide information, funding, advocacy, and partnerships that help libraries provide the services most needed in their communities. If you have questions or would like to share the work your library is doing, please reach out to RAILS Director of Technology Services and Chair of the Illinois Broadband Advisory Council Anne Slaughter, anne. slaughter@railslibraries.
org or 630. 734. 5127.
We’d love to highlight your projects and stories!
November 8, 2025 - Second Cohort Completes Hands-On Tech Course at Forest Park Public Library October 10, 2025 - Bridging the Digital Divide (Bloomington Public Library) September 30, 2025 - Library Launches Second Hands-On Digital Skills Course (Forest Park Public Library) September 8, 2025 - Small Upgrades, Big Impact: How Our Library Grant Created a More Inclusive, Tech-Friendly Space (Aurora University Library) July 29, 2025 - Digital Literacy Course Helps Locals Navigate News and Life (Forest Park Public Library) July 22, 2025 - In Cook County, Libraries Become the Digital Navigators June 12, 2025 - Digital Inclusion for All at Downers Grove Public Library June 10, 2025 - Library Ready to Help Neighbors with Digital Skills Workshops (Forest Park Public Library) December 26, 2024 - Cook County Awards $15K Digital Equity Grant to Niles-Maine District Library October 2025 - Investigating the Digital Equity Capacity of Illinois Public Libraries September 24, 2025 - Call for Cook County Library Digital Navigator Network Guiding Team Participants May 20, 2025 - RAILS & Cook County Partner on Digital Navigator Network Program September 19, 2024 - Anne Slaughter Named DCEO Broadband Advisory Council Chair June 6, 2024 - Secretary Giannoulias Awarding $2 Million in Library Tech Grants to Underserved Communities March 5, 2024 - Western Illinois Digital Access Conference, April 12 January 31, 2024 - RAILS, CARLI, and IHLS Publish Open Letter Regarding Digital Equity Plan Illinois Digital Equity Networking Group If you have a passion for increasing digital equity and working towards mitigating the digital divide, please consider joining and participating in the RAILS Digital Equity Networking Group .
Participants in this group will work together to identify barriers that stand in the way of digital equity and will share solutions and opportunities for bridging the digital divide in their local communities. This group is open to staff from any Illinois library.
ALA Digital Inclusion Working Group The Digital Inclusion Working Group provides a channel for library workers who attend monthly working group meetings to exchange knowledge around digital inclusion and equity work occurring in the library community. Working Group meetings are facilitated by ALA’s Public Policy and Advocacy Office and include regular digital equity and inclusion policy updates.
Illinois Tech Reuse Network If your library has technology equipment that is no longer being used, consider donating them via the Illinois Tech Reuse Network . The Illinois Office of Broadband partners with local device refurbishing organizations to facilitate the collection of retired computers, laptops, and other devices. The devices are refurbished and distributed for free or at a low cost to households in need of technology.
Libraries may also explore opportunities to partner with these device refurbishing organizations to host device distribution events. Digital Skills and Digital Navigators Library workers are the original digital navigators! Library workers have been helping their communities develop digital skills for decades.
In today’s digital equity ecosystem, digital navigators are individuals who address the whole digital inclusion process — home connectivity, devices, and digital skills — through repeated interactions if that’s what a community member needs. The digital navigator model has proved to be flexible and replicable across a variety of settings, including libraries.
The National Digital Inclusion Alliance provides further information about digital navigators and digital navigation programs on their website . Free Digital Navigator Overview training from digitalLIFT Free resources for digital skills trainers at DigitalLearn.
org Closing the Digital Skill Divide: Illinois State Profile Digital Equity Resources for Libraries Professional Guidance and Reports RAILS Continuing Education Archives (L2 login required) ALA Digital Equity Resources for Libraries ALA Digital Equity in Libraries report New York State Library digital inclusion toolkit PLA 2023 Public Library Technology Survey A small sampling of organizations working in Illinois and beyond to offer opportunities to track the latest developments, learn, network, and advocate.
National Digital Inclusion Alliance Schools, Health, and Libraries Broadband Coalition (SHLB) Benton Institute for Broadband & Society National Skills Coalition U.S. Census Bureau’s Digital Equity Act Covered Population Viewer U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey NTIA Internet Use Survey Data Explorer Adapted from the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) .
Digital equity is a condition in which all individuals and communities have the information technology capacity needed for full participation in our society, democracy, and economy. Digital equity is necessary for civic and cultural participation, employment, lifelong learning, and access to essential services.
Digital Inclusion refers to the activities necessary to ensure that all individuals and communities, including the most disadvantaged, have access to and use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).
This includes five elements: Affordable, robust broadband internet service; Internet-enabled devices that meet the needs of the user; Access to digital literacy training; Quality technical support; and Applications and online content designed to enable and encourage self-sufficiency, participation and collaboration. Digital Inclusion must evolve as technology advances.
Digital Inclusion requires intentional strategies and investments to reduce and eliminate historical, institutional and structural barriers to access and use technology. Illinois has been allocated over $1 billion of federal funding for broadband expansion and digital inclusion programs as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
There are two separate programs: The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program is aimed at getting unserved and underserved households and community anchor institutions like libraries connected to high-speed internet. The Illinois Office of Broadband is responsible for distributing the funding via the Connect Illinois program and has created the BEAD Five-Year Action Plan and State Digital Equity Plan to guide this work.
The Digital Equity Act is intended to support digital inclusion projects aimed at helping Illinois residents access affordable internet service as well as devices, digital skills training, and other support. On Friday, May 16, RAILS was notified that the U.S. Department of Commerce had terminated funding for the Digital Equity Capacity Grant to Illinois.
More information is available in our RAILS Digital Equity Update article from May 20, 2025. Illinois Office of Broadband A collaboration on broadband data, mapping, research, and publication driven by the Illinois Office of Broadband and the University of Illinois System.
RAILS encourages our libraries to connect with your counties, digital equity coalitions, broadband networks, and other local organizations engaged in broadband expansion and digital inclusion to partner on grant projects and other opportunities. Don't see your county listed here? Reach out to them directly to find out if they have a digital equity program, and please let us know about it.
Cook County: read the Digital Equity Action Plan , check out the Digital Equity Map , and find out about opportunities to connect with the work of the Digital Equity office . Lake County Digital Growth Initiative and Coalition Peoria County Digital Equity Pilot Program
According to the current listing, eligibility includes: Nonprofits, public agencies, and other organizations focused on digital equity. Confirm the full requirements in the official notice before applying.
Digital Equity Act Programs is funded by Illinois Office of Broadband. Verify program details on the funder's official page before applying.
Start from the official opportunity page linked in this listing — it carries the sponsor's submission instructions.
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Read articleNTIA reopened tribal broadband funding with two NOFOs due September 17, 2026 — $540M in the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program Round 3 and $250M in the Native Entities Grant Program. This is the money that survived the Digital Equity Act cuts. Here is who is eligible, why the program pivoted from fiber to affordability, and how to align with BEAD to score higher.
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