Celebrate Smokey’s 80th Birthday by joining the Smokey Bear Reading Challenge! This challenge can be used to engage youth in reading about wildfire prevention and forests, as well as natural resource careers, all while they explore their local environment. The challenge is also meant to complement the 2024 Collaborative Summer Reading Program theme of Adventure Begins at Your Library.
Join the celebration by visiting the Summer Reading LibGuide. You will find a fantastic toolkit containing everything libraries need to promote the Smokey Bear Reading Challenge and engage their communities. Download reading lists, printable reading logs, and promotional items, and check out a list of Smokey-approved titles about adventure and the great outdoors available from the NYS Talking Book and Braille Library.
Digital inequity is a complex and multi-faceted problem, and the NYS Library’s work around digital equity and inclusion is ongoing. This work includes compiling and publishing reports, providing access to useful data tools, and convening digital equity practitioners across the state. We’re excited to share this work with you, and hope you will explore our resources:
Read the Reports
In 2021, the New York State Education Department and the Board of Regents convened a series of Digital Equity Summits to establish a shared understanding of digital inequity and create a joint vision toward achieving digital equity in New York State. From these discussions, the Department compiled the information shared. Achieving Digital Equity in New York: An Outline for Collaborative Change expands upon the ideas and strategic directions discussed during the Digital Equity Summits. Other publications go into detail about the current state of digital equity in New York and beyond. The Digital Inclusion Toolkit provides tools and strategies for digital equity practitioners.
Digital Equity Portal
Looking for a way to leverage data for digital inclusion efforts? Use this interactive, online data and mapping tool to generate snapshots of connectivity, device access, demographics, programming, and other digital equity resources from selected geographies across the state.
Get Involved
To learn more about digital equity work happening in New York State, join our email list or participate in one of our Digital Equity Roundtable Conversations.