At the Denver Public Library, People Skills Are the Most Important Quality When Choosing Digital Navigators

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

Tuesday, January 21, 2025

Digital Beat

At the Denver Public Library, People Skills Are the Most Important Quality When Choosing Digital Navigators

 

The Human Infrastructure of Broadband: Looking Back, Looking Around, and Looking Ahead Following up on the release of The Human Infrastructure of Broadband: Looking Back, Looking Around, and Looking Ahead, we are providing examples of core, complementary, and coalition models for digital equity work. This series of organizational profiles delve deeply into how these programs work, the problems they are best suited to solve, the populations they are best suited to reach, and the support they need to succeed. Learn more about the Human Infrastructure of Broadband Project.


 

“For me, the most beautiful thing is teaching people skills as continuous learners to the point that they are independent. Some people find it difficult to obtain a job because of technology. So my favorite thing is teaching somebody how to make a résumé. I’m going online on ZipRecruiter or Indeed and looking at different organizations and seeing [the continuous learner] able to apply to these jobs, teaching them how to apply to these jobs by themselves and going to their interviews, and getting their living back [making a living] or some sense of doing something.”

—Digital Navigator, Denver Public Library

“I think a big part that we talk about is teaching confidence as much as the direct skills. Seeing somebody finally feel comfortable and able to apply that is fantastic. I am meeting with a patron I met about two years ago, and we worked on and off throughout that time. When I first met him, he was unhoused, looking for places to live, had a lot of medical concerns, and could not access technology in any way. So, there are a lot of things that I was able to help him out with, including setting up devices and building digital skills. But another part that I found very rewarding was being able to connect with other services that can help in those other aspects. The Community Resources folks at the library were able to help him with the housing and medical side of those things, and now he’s got a place where he’s consistently getting the treatment he needs, and I’m still working with him now. He’s publishing a book and can relax and start doing what he wants to do. Seeing people get to those places is very rewarding.”

—Digital Navigator, Denver Public Library

History and Context

With 27 locations, the Denver Public Library (DPL) is an innovative hub for digital equity throughout the city, serving more than 700,000 residents. The library provides more than 1,400 public internet computers that receive more than 250,000 uses annually, as well as free public Wi-Fi. Devices and internet hotspots also are available for checkout. The library offers a variety of resources to learn new technology skills, from classes to one-on-one help in English, Vietnamese, and Spanish. The range of skills that are taught also varies widely—everything from moving a mouse and learning the parts of the computer to using spreadsheets, WordPress, and introductory coding in Python. While the library is open to all, staff specifically target outreach to people experiencing homelessness, justice-involved individuals, immigrants, refugees, people who speak a language other than English at home, and people with intellectual and physical disabilities. “Challenging Inequity” is one of the Denver Public Library’s five values in action, and its mission is “Together, we create welcoming spaces where all are free to explore and connect.”

While digital literacy and navigation services have long been a part of DPL’s work, the current format of DPL's digital navigation program began during the COVID-19 pandemic. During that time, the DPL technology leadership team noticed that community members, typically those ages 65 and older, were disadvantaged by the sudden shift from in-person to virtual engagements. Previously, these community members had relied on in-person interactions in libraries with computer usage or social services support, and the pandemic disrupted this, limiting people to seeking services using online platforms. Connecting with individuals over the phone was a challenge, which further limited services for community members who relied on one-on-one support. DPL’s digital inclusion manager recognized the need to provide more systematic, individualized services as the pandemic moved all forms of connection to virtual settings, creating disadvantages for community members with less tech experience. The demand for assistance with social service program applications during this time further amplified this need. To mitigate this challenge, and with COVID-19 federal funding available, DPL was able to develop a formalized digital navigator program designed to provide one-on-one, in-person support to those challenged by computer and internet basics. DPL’s digital navigation program offers ongoing support for individuals needing help with technology, including:

  • Obtaining devices;
  • Securing affordable internet service; and
  • Learning essential tech skills.

The program is part of DPL’s broader effort to bridge the digital divide by offering personalized assistance, including tech help appointments and drop-in sessions for navigating the internet, using software, and accessing eBooks. The initiative emphasizes making technology more accessible, offering resources like lending Chromebooks and hotspots, and ensuring community members can fully participate in the digital world.

Getting Started

With federal funds available, the DPL team began creating a formalized service by recruiting individuals for the newly created digital navigator role. The digital navigators were to be hired as library team members but would engage with the community through frequent mobilization between branches and community partner locations. The program offers digital skills training, and the leadership team sought digital navigators based on their “people skills”—their ability to connect with patrons in a meaningful way, their connection to the community, and their ability to communicate with the community that they would serve (e.g., Spanish-speaking candidates to support the Hispanic and Latino/a community; candidates assigned to work with formerly incarcerated individuals and those connected to the criminal justice system). Applicants underwent behavioral interviews to assess their engagement level rather than their knowledge of tech skills. The team hired applicants with solid relational skills, initially hiring four digital navigators, including three former library staff members. The team currently includes six digital navigators.

To prepare for the work, digital navigators underwent four weeks of onboarding, including connecting with library resources and learning library processes to integrate into the system. They also shadowed team members from different departments to which digital navigators would get connected in their work, including the Community Technology Center, Community Assistance Resources, and Mobile Services teams. This onboarding was designed to prepare digital navigators for work within the library system and prepare the library team to welcome the digital navigators. Other training that evolved from early lessons learned included managing patron expectations, designed to help navigators handle complex patron interactions while providing support. Following these onboarding steps, digital navigators were ready to begin offering services.

Services

DPL digital navigators provide targeted, one-on-one technology assistance to help participants with ongoing needs in an assigned library or community space. Participants set up appointments with digital navigators—often individuals with whom they have worked before—to get assistance with specific tech help tasks, including internet access needs, email, and social media support. Navigators hold appointments for up to four hours at one of the 18 participating library locations or specific community partner locations.

DPL's digital navigation support is variable; navigators provide specific tech assistance on request. Patrons who seek one-time, short-term (20 minutes or less) support are directed to drop-in tech help services rather than to digital navigators. Some community members request services that involve social service support or access to community resources. For these requests, digital navigators refer the patrons to DPL’s Peer Navigators service for social services needs, Plaza Immigrant services, or immigration-related requests as needed. Each group recognizes how to connect patron requests appropriately.

Key Partners

The DPL team has a unique opportunity as an extensive library system to connect with a variety of community partners. Some partners that library leaders have discussed include the Denver Department of Human Services, 

the Denver Housing Authority, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, and the Assessment, Intake, and Diversion (AID) Center. Digital navigators, especially those working with formerly incarcerated patrons, talk about their opportunities to provide job support and some group lessons through these partnerships.

The team describes partnerships as an excellent way to reach community members outside library spaces. For example, through the partnership with the Department of Human Services, digital navigators can engage with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This partnership has led to a funded digital navigator position within the library that works exclusively with such patrons. Other partners strengthen the team’s connections to formerly incarcerated community members needing digital navigation support. The digital navigation leadership team also discusses working with the AID Center, a resource center for community members experiencing homelessness. Through the work with the AID Center and halfway houses, the team provides support with device access, internet access, and digital navigation training. This support has led to additional partnerships with a local refurbisher called PCs for People, through which more community members are able to purchase devices at significantly reduced rates.

What We Can Learn

People Skills Are the Most Important Quality When Choosing Digital Navigators

Staff will spend more time building patron relationships than providing advanced digital navigation skills. To prepare to provide one-on-one, recurring tech support, digital navigators need people skills to build trust and authentic connections with community members. The DPL team used behavioral interviews to identify staff who could engage with the community in a meaningful way.

Additionally, DPL sought staff members with cultural connections with the communities they serve. The DPL team believes that it is essential that the community feel represented and work with individuals with whom they are comfortable working and can easily communicate.

Partnerships Help Connect with Communities That Need the Most Support—but Also Create Challenges When Roles Are Blurred

The program leadership team and the digital navigators have discussed challenges arising from community partnerships, including difficulty in setting boundaries. For example, the device support partnerships revealed different opinions about the library’s role in providing such services. Some library leaders questioned the ethical role of libraries in device distribution and selling devices at low rates, raising concerns about the library’s brand when involved in such initiatives. The library team, both leadership and digital navigators, may need to identify some core principles on which they can agree when serving communities. With consensus, the team could pursue opportunities and/or set clear boundaries when needed.

Nesting This Program Within Individual Library Locations May Have Benefits

Currently, Denver’s digital navigators travel to specific locations based on need. While this is an opportunity to provide support that is convenient to patrons, this movement also creates a challenge, as there is sometimes a disconnect between library and digital navigation services. Digital navigators are limited in the support they can provide based on availability; other library teams may be able to fill in as needed. Additionally, a disconnect between library teams and digital navigators may create tension between them. The library leadership and digital navigation team should establish clear roles about who should respond to specific requests.

The Digital Navigator Team Needs to Be Prepared to Experience the Emotional Challenges of This Work

Digital navigation services expand beyond support for computer use and basics. Digital navigation involves interacting with patrons on a recurring basis. Through these ongoing, repeated interactions with individuals, navigators learn about the hardships community members face, which may lead to secondary trauma for the navigators. These experiences can lead to burnout.

Navigators’ stress has led to an internal conversation about the importance of limiting digital navigation services. The program team has adapted its service model and focused more on streamlining digital navigation services along with the library system’s community support services. Program leadership is exploring collaborating more directly with the social work team to support patrons with more complex needs without overextending the digital navigation team.

While the program leadership’s response to this unanticipated challenge is sufficient, this lesson emphasizes the emotional and mental intensity of the one-on-one relationships built between digital navigators and community members. Digital navigators, in any setting, need strong support structures since they assist community members in solving complex, personal issues. Leaders of digital navigator programs should consider how they will prepare and support staff to work effectively under conditions that present interpersonal challenges.

Looking Ahead

Both staff and leadership envision sustaining the Denver Public Library’s digital navigation program; however, the team has made note of what specific supports it needs to bolster long-term engagement.

Sustainable funding is essential. The DPL digital navigation program was funded initially by federal COVID-19 funds. Next year, a more permanent funding stream will be in place. The program leaders emphasize the importance of permanent financing for these services. To ensure that growth, staffing, and program operations continue, permanent funding is imperative.

Navigators need protection from burnout. Much of the digital navigators’ and program leaders’ feedback addresses the unanticipated challenges to mental health that come with providing these services. Through their work with marginalized communities, the digital navigators have experienced challenging patron engagements where they were unable to provide support, such as assistance with securing housing, COVID-19 emergency rental assistance application support, or other time-sensitive needs. In many cases, navigators have built trust with community members and learned about their difficult circumstances regardless of the service provided, which has led to some emotional strain. The program leaders have adapted their training to address these issues and provided more support in setting boundaries. The leaders emphasize that supporting staff is essential for teams that may want to offer relational services.

Expansion of services, populations served, and areas outside of Denver are needed to sustain the program. The digital navigators and program leaders view this program as integrated into the DPL system through secure funding, and thus, they perceive the program as sustainable. They recognize that for continued sustainability, the program team should continue to adapt services to include more emergent technology needs, including artificial intelligence use and support with newer programs like Canva. They anticipate that offering these additional services will broaden their reach beyond an older population to a younger, working, and school-age population. They also hope to expand outside the metro Denver area into neighboring cities.

The Denver Public Library’s digital navigation program is vital for promoting digital literacy and self-sufficiency within the community. By prioritizing relationship building and collaboration among staff, the program effectively addresses the diverse needs of its patrons. The program is well positioned for future growth and to navigate challenges such as emotional strain on navigators and the necessity of sustainable funding. To ensure that all community members can fully participate in the digital world, the program will have to be able to continually adapt to emerging technologies and expand its services.


Written by: Shelli Golson-Mickens​

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