Alaska library internet grants delayed as E-Rate comments come due

State grants that help Alaska public libraries pay internet bills are delayed. The Alaska State Library said Thursday that FY2027 Online With Libraries (OWL) Internet Cost Assistance grants are running late because several libraries have not yet received E-Rate funding decision letters from USAC, the Universal Service Administrative Company. The state library said award letters will go out as soon as possible.

Applications closed August 31. The grants are noncompetitive, meaning applicants are not ranked, and are open to libraries eligible for the Public Library Assistance Grant, the state's operating grant to public libraries. Since June the state library has said receipt of E-Rate is not required to apply; libraries without E-Rate can instead submit three months of internet bills. The pending letters matter because USAC's decision letters are one of the documents OWL asks applicants to provide, not because E-Rate approval is a condition of an award.

E-Rate is the federal program that discounts internet service for schools and libraries, with the FCC setting discounts at 20% to 90%. The FCC is reviewing the program, covering broadband access, online safety and the Children's Internet Protection Act, the law requiring E-Rate schools and libraries to filter content harmful to minors. Public comments on WC Docket Nos. 26-133, 13-184, 21-93 and 21-455 are due Oct. 13, with reply comments due Nov. 12.

The state library points first-time commenters to guides from the Save Our E-Rate coalition and E-Rate Central. Comments go through the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System.