E-rate services are broadly divided into two categories:
- Category One includes Internet Service and Data Transmission services.
- Category Two includes the equipment and wiring necessary to provide internet access, such as routers, switches, WiFi access points, and related hardware. Category Two also includes Managed Internal Broadband Services (MIBS), and Basic Maintenance of Internal Connections (BMIC).
For Category Two, each library outlet is allocated a ‘pre-discount’ five-year budget based on the library building's square footage and the library's e-rate discount percentage. The following map provides the amount of funding that is potentially available from the program for Massachusetts standalone public libraries and library systems (main library and branch outlets).
Data Sources:
- Building Square Footage
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The library building square footage as reported in the IMLS FY2017 Public Libraries Survey (Outlet Data)
- E-rate Discount Percentage
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In some cases, the e-rate discount percentage was taken directly from the library's profile in the E-Rate Productivity Center management system (EPC). However, since many Massachusetts public libraries are not completely set up in EPC, discounts have been estimated based on the nearest school district discount, or the percentage of the school district population that participates in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). Therefore, these figures, though a good estimate, may not be completely accurate.