Innovatively Connecting Underserved Communities to Information and Education
In briefAI summary — tap to read
Libraries Without Borders uses innovative mobile programs like the Ideas Box and laundromat literacy initiatives to connect underserved communities—especially those with limited digital access—to educational resources, information, and technology. During COVID-19, they launched the Connected program to distribute refurbished laptops and internet hotspots to families in Baltimore and San Antonio who lacked home technology for remote work and learning.
Key takeaways
- Libraries Without Borders meets people where they are through outreach in laundromats, parks, manufactured housing, and community spaces rather than expecting people to visit traditional library buildings.
- The Ideas Box is a portable multimedia tool containing books, media, laptops, and WiFi hotspots that has been deployed in 94 locations across 20+ countries to provide education and digital access in refugee camps and underserved areas.
- Digital equity requires more than just providing devices; it includes cultural relevance, language accessibility, community training, and resource guides tailored to local needs.
- The Connected program responded to COVID-19 by distributing 300+ refurbished laptops and hotspots to families, discovering that 83% of San Antonio recipients had no prior device access.
- Rather than working in silos, Libraries Without Borders actively shares toolkits, budgets, and lessons learned with partner organizations to scale impact across cities.
About Azure Grimes and Sarah BaronAzure Grimes is the Senior Program Manager for Libraries Without Borders, overseeing national programs in Oakland, San Antonio, Baltimore, and Minneapolis after previously serving as the Baltimore Project Coordinator.
AI-generated from the meeting recording — AI can make mistakes, so check the recording for anything important.
Meeting for the week of May 24, 2021 - May 30, 2021
This Meeting at a Glance:
Program: Innovatively Connecting Underserved Communities to Information and Education
Speaker: Azure Grimes and Sarah Baron
Is this your first time to visit us? If so, welcome to our weekly online meeting! To complete our meeting, please continue reading from here to the bottom of this page.Each Monday our week’s meeting is posted early in the morning, U.S. Pacific Time. These meetings are designed so that you can read and watch what we post anytime during the week. The entire meeting takes about 60 minutes to complete, with the video conference recording of the program being the bulk of the time. Note that you can easily read this meeting with your favorite device, so feel free to take our meeting on the go with you. Please also make sure to complete the attendance form at the bottom and leave a comment. Enjoy!
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Welcome to the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley!
Here’s a message from our Club President.
Welcome, everyone, to the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley!
More than 775 million people over the age of 15 are illiterate. That’s 17 percent of the world’s adult population. Rotary’s goal is to strengthen the capacity of communities to support basic education and literacy, reduce gender disparity in education, and increase adult literacy. We support education for all children and literacy for children and adults.
What can you do to support education and bring literacy to everyone? Consider making a contribution to The Rotary Foundation’s Annual Fund — any amount you are comfortable with.
Please enjoy this meeting and have a great week!
Yours in Rotary service,
Raquel D’Garay-Juncal
President, Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley
president@siliconvalleyrotary.com
Guests, we are happy to have you join us this week!
As we see it, our flexibility as an online, asynchronous club allows a special type of service to Rotarians around the world: we make it easier for anyone to strive for and maintain 100% attendance. That keeps you engaged with Rotary's events and ideas, and provides a moment of inspiration for devoting your creativity, talents, and resources to good causes.
You are certainly not required to pay anything in order to attend our meetings. However, if you would like to make a small contribution to our service efforts, you are welcome to do so in our secure Happy Dollars section down the page. This could be what you normally pay at your own club's meetings for lunch, for example. Any amount is welcome, but first and foremost, we're happy you've joined us, and hope you will share with others who we are and what we do to help inspire Service Above Self.
And don't forget to fill out our attendance form so you get an email you can pass on to your club's secretary!
The Four-Way Test
The Four-Way Test is a nonpartisan and nonsectarian ethical guide for Rotarians to use for their personal and professional relationships.
Of the things we think, say or do
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Is it the TRUTH?
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Is it FAIR to all concerned?
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Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
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Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
Weekly Funny with Shags
We believe laughter is an important part of life, and we should all make time to laugh a little. This segment of our meeting is meant to tickle you just enough. These funnies are curated by member Steven "Shags" Shagrin !
Spare, Strike, or Split??
My wife asked me today if I had seen the dog bowl...
I said I didn’t know he could!
Weekly inspiration
Every week we start our meetings with a short video highlighting innovation, inspiration, entrepreneurship, or social change.
When you think of Disney, you might think of princesses. Their research division, however, explores all sorts of interesting, and in this case, mildly creepy possibilities. Those who have been awaiting an inspirational video on animatronics, your time has come.
World of Rotary
Every week we will focus on a particular story that tells of our organization and the work of Rotarians in the world.
Through a Rotarian's Lens
Sometimes a photo can capture an amazing moment. In this section Member Keith Marsh shares his incredible photography!
If you'd like to submit a photo for this section please contact Keith.
We had some excitement in town last week when a 250-pound black bear came within a block of our busy downtown shopping district. It climbed 40 feet up an oak tree to avoid a gathering crowd. After three hours, it came down and wandered back into the woods. Since it was probably looking for food and water during our drought, it may be back. I used a 600mm lens with vibration reduction to capture this image from about 150 feet at 1/2000 sec. without a tripod.
Learn something new
This section is curated by members Shags Shagrin and aims to teach our members and guests something new, fun, and useful! If you have any ideas on a fun trick or skill you'd like to share please contact Shags.
10 Hot Weather Life Hacks To Keep YOU Cool!
Fun stuff!! Love the ice drinking glasses! And a "Learn Something New" tip for videos: speed them up and add subtitles to get through them faster!!
Service report
Tell us about service you’ve done recently in your community.
Click here to fill out The Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley Service Survey
Our events & projects
We hold our meetings online, but we do regular service projects and social events in the Silicon Valley! The section is updated every week with our upcoming events. We welcome guests to all of the events and service projects listed here.
Upcoming events
All times are Pacific Time! (San Francisco time)
District 5170 events
All times are Pacific Time! (San Francisco time)
More events coming soon! All events are open to guests, unless otherwise mentioned. Feel free to join us! If you ever have questions, please email inquiries@siliconvalleyrotary.com
Happy Dollars: do good by sharing something good
Each week we ask our members to share stories with the club and toss in a few dollars to support our efforts. The primary goal of this section is to provide a fun way of getting to know each fellow members and guests, while giving back to a good cause.
Happy dollars is an opportunity to share something positive that has happened in your life whether it is personal or business. Think of it as your opportunity to brag a little, but also put a little bit into a karma jar. The money donated through happy dollars is put to charitable use, and the message that you leave for happy dollars will be posted in our online meeting the following week for the entire week for folks to see! (Pending that it’s appropriate!)
Here are the happy dollars contributions from last week!
This section is usually updated in the early hours of Saturday, so contributions made over the weekend may not be listed here.
Rory Olsen made a $20 donation.
Rained intermittently for a week. Spending a lot of time with my cats. Please apply my gift to Polio Plus.
Program: Innovatively Connecting Underserved Communities to Information and Education
Speaker: Azure Grimes and Sarah Baron
Every week we bring to you a new program on innovation, entrepreneurship, and education, and how those contribute to service to others.
The Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley seeks to explore perspectives on service from across the world. The views of the speakers in our programs are their own, and unless stated otherwise, are not necessarily reflective of the views of our eClub nor Rotary International.
If you have an idea for a cool speaker, please feel free to reach out to them directly or submit THIS FORM so our Program Committee can contact them!
Bibliothèques Sans Frontières (Libraries Without Borders, or LWB) is an international non-profit that strengthens the capacity of people in vulnerable situations by facilitating access to education, information, and cultural resources. In more than 50 countries, LWB creates innovative cultural and learning spaces that allow those affected by crisis or precarity to learn, to play, strengthen their communities, and construct their futures.
Libraries Without Borders US takes this same mission - access to information - and applies it to communities in the United States, particularly to communities subject to systemic discrimination. From parks in Baltimore to laundromats in Oakland, LWB US designs innovative tools and programs that meet people where they are, providing the resources they need most.
The Senior Program Manager at Libraries Without Borders US (LWB US), Azure Grimes (she/her) is a west-Baltimore native who joined the team in January 2019. Prior to working with LWB US, Azure served on a variety of AmeriCorps national service programs and was honored to receive the President’s Volunteer Service Lifetime Achievement Award for completing over 4,000 community service hours. Azure is passionate about advancing racial equity through community-led initiatives.
The Development Manager at LWB US, Sarah Baron (she/her) manages the development and communications work for the organization. She focuses on engaging donors, organizing fundraising campaigns, spearheading grant writing and reporting, and hosting outreach events. Previously, she worked in education with low-income communities in Senegal and Morocco. She recently graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.S. in Regional and Comparative Studies from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service.
Members and guests, please welcome Azure Grimes and Sarah Baron!
Learn more:
Check out our international website (https://www.librarieswithoutborders.org/) as well as the LWB US website (https://www.librarieswithoutborders.us/) for more information.
Upcoming program recording schedule
All of our guest speakers and programs are recorded live online over Zoom video conference. We welcome members and guests to join us in one of these upcoming recordings. Recordings are approximately 30 minutes long and are subject to change without notice.
Our online video conference room link for these recordings is always http://zoom.siliconvalleyrotary.com/. You are welcome to join us! Please note the timezone listed for all recordings is US Pacific Time (San Francisco, California, USA).
If you can’t join the live recording, please send your questions for an upcoming speaker to programs@siliconvalleyrotary.com.
