European Journal of ePractice

In Tampere (Finland), 'Information Society for all' has been a strategic goal since the beginning of 2000. New ways to approach the matter have been applied, and the Tampere City Library has been an active member in these tasks with the implementation of the Internet bus Netti-Nysse, which is described in detail in this paper as well as the challenges ahead to prevent the digital divide and the role that libraries can have in preventing them. In a modern information society like Finland we know that the access to Internet is not enough; the 'everyday Information Society' is about learning, culture, community and meaning. It is about support and interpreters. It is about equal opportunity and constant public commitment.

The key issues for the success of the Internet bus have been a good atmosphere and image, pedagogical solutions, focus on everyday life, networking and commitment of the city. At the Tampere City Library we are hoping to be interpreters of the information society and to encourage adults to find new ways to express, share and understand through hands-on media education.

This paper is based on six years of experience working with the Tampere City Library Internet bus, a half year scholarship and work with Community Informatics at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the ideas that professor Jan van Dijk presented in his book 'The Deepening Divide'.