The digital literacy movement is making some of the greatest strides in Amarillo, Texas, of all places. Known as “The Yellow Rose of Texas,” Amarillo conjures images of the rugged, Old West spirit, the iconic Route 66, and the grandeur of the Palo Duro Canyon. There used to be a  joke that Amarillo had more cows than people. But in 2024, Amarillo is leading the way in all things digital, including a new literacy program, broadband access, and even an AI “digital human” that acts as a concierge for the city.

The Amarillo Public Library’s digital literacy initiative is in the early stages but it promises to be a robust program that will help all of Amarillo’s diverse population by gaining the computing and cyberspace skills they need to thrive in the 21st century.

Leading the way in this new initiative are Amanda Barrera, director of the Amarillo Public Library and Maggie Elder, the library’s digital literacy coordinator. 

“To maximize the benefit and impact to workforce development, the Amarillo Public Library will deploy digital literacy training to the many diverse groups of residents that this project impacts,” Barrera said.

“The goal is to give the citizens of Amarillo resources and opportunities to develop not only basic digital skills but also to upskill, seek knowledge, and grow in all areas of digital capability in a safe and responsible way” – Maggie Elder

The project will be crucial for workforce development, educational advancement, and creating a sense of equity in such a diverse community. It has the potential to transform people’s lives, but there was one problem that would need to be solved first.

It All Started with Better Broadband

By the end of 2022, Amarillo’s broadband was accessible for only about 60% of the city. The city completed a contract with AT&T that established a public-private partnership to bring high speed broadband to approximately 23,000 unserved or underserved homes and businesses. Now, Amarillo’s broadband coverage has shot up to 90% over the last two years. With increased broadband access, Amarillo Public Library saw a new opportunity.

Barrera said, “It all starts with connectivity. But once you reach that point, where do you go next? You need to have the tools and the skills to use it (broadband).”

She also gave the area-specific example of the local Tyson Foods Beef Plant. Robotics are a huge part of how the plant operates and now the workforce will need new technological skills. So how do you give a city population these new digital skills?

APL’s Digital Navigator Initiative

As coordinator for the Digital Navigator Initiative, Maggie Elder knew she would need a detailed plan. She started by figuring out the core competencies that would need to be met. The competencies listed in the program’s Digital Literacy Assessment Framework are as follows:

• Technological Fluency
• Information and Data Literacy
• Communication and Collaboration
• Digital Content Creation
• Safety and Security
• Problem Solving and Critical Thinking
• Digital Citizenship and Ethical Use
• Digital Identity and Wellbeing

According to Elder, the goal of the initiative is not just to teach digital literacy, but to instill a sense of digital excellence by connecting people, organizations, and resources to create a sustainable and self-sustaining ecosystem.

The initiative will employ Digital Navigators to provide digital literacy skills training to the community. These navigators will be stationed at the main library and branches, but the plan is to get them out into the community as well.

Through American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, APL has purchased 500 chromebooks. The Digital Navigators are being funded with grant money but Elder also plans to use members of the Panhandle Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) as instructors. Classes will be taught in a group setting or in some cases, one-on-one instruction will be offered, based on skill level, with the navigators reporting back to Elder, who will track the progress of the program.

Overcoming Obstacles

One of the biggest pain-points, according to Elder, is that Amarillo has a huge refugee community. With a current population of 200,000, Amarillo accepted more than 7,000 refugees from 2007-2017 with more arriving every year.

“This effort is particularly challenging due to the significant number of refugees in our community. The Eastridge neighborhood alone is home to over 60 different languages and dialects. We plan to leverage this project in partnership with external partners, neighborhood associations, and Amarillo College to explore strategies and technologies that will not only allow digital literacy and workforce development efforts to succeed but establish the building blocks needed to connect these isolated groups to our community,” Barrera said.

“It presents a big challenge, there are just so many cultures and languages,” said Elder. “I’m not going to be able to go into all of those communities and expect them to respond. We need trusted members of the communities to be the navigator and be in charge of that network.”

APL has partnered with an organization called The Place, a multicultural community center founded in 2022, comprised of three non-profits, one of them focused solely on the language barrier. “They’ve already gathered constituent groups together so that they are a trusted source of societal integration. Being able to partner with them was crucial to get to the communities faster, without having to build up trust and credibility, because it has already been established,” Barrera said.

This strategic move by Amarillo Public Library serves to underscore the vital importance of building strong partnerships.

Gathering a Team of Key Players in the Community

The initiative has received significant buy-in from Amarillo city leaders and community partners. Rich Gagnon is the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and one of Amarillo’s city managers. He procured the grant funding for the digital navigators. Very soon, a community senior citizen center will be the home of APL’s “Silver Surfer” program where digitally literate seniors will work on projects that affect their specific demographic.

Putting this type of ecosystem in place is crucial for digital literacy. It takes strategic partnerships and community support. APL is a shining example of creating and leveraging these partnerships.

“It’s so important,” Elder said, “working with the city and other partners. Where these initiatives fail is when you are siloed.”

The roll call of partners is impressive. AT&T boosted broadband access. Dell is also a corporate partner, providing devices and technical support. Working with local schools in Region 16, the Education Service Center (ESC), and the Harrington Library Consortium ensure that there is a pipeline to the community and a framework for building a robust technology infrastructure in the Panhandle.

Amarillo On the Digital Frontier

The Digital Navigator Initiative is just one of the exciting technology happenings in Amarillo. This year, the city introduced Emma, a multilingual AI “digital human.” In a collaboration between Dell and enterprise GenAi leader Pryon, Emma will be on call to the public 24/7. Emma will be able to converse in more than 60 languages, answering questions, retrieving information, and even connecting callers to a real-life human to speak with. Want to know when bulk trash day is? Ask Emma.

Amarillo Public Library plans to use Emma as well. The generative AI assistant will be able to talk to patrons and assess their digital literacy levels to better evaluate what kind of specific training is needed.

APL recently won the Demco/Upstart Innovative Programming Award from the Texas Library Association for their Girls Who Game program. Maggie Elder started the program in 2022 to provide underserved students with an opportunity to learn more about STEM in a creative way while enhancing their computational, critical thinking, and communication skills. It was the first team in the United States to be based in a public library. The extracurricular program was created through partnerships with Dell Technologies, Microsoft, and Intel.

If you ever find yourself in the Texas Panhandle, driving on Route 66 through Amarillo, you will definitely see evidence of the past but take a deeper look and you will also see this city is now on the frontier of the future.

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