Deborah Jacobs
Title
Director, Global Libraries
Organization
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Deborah Jacobs, director of the Global Libraries initiative at the foundation, oversees the foundation’s work toward improving people’s lives in developing and transitioning countries through useful, used, and sustainable public access to information and communications technology in public libraries.
Prior to joining the foundation in 2008, she served as Seattle City Librarian for 11 years. During her tenure as Seattle City Librarian, circulation of library materials in the Seattle library system nearly doubled. Jacobs began her career as a children’s librarian more than three decades ago, and has received a number of honors throughout her career. Jacobs received a bachelor’s degree in government from Mills College and a masters degree in library science from the University of Oregon.
Posts By Deborah Jacobs
August 13, 2012 / Deborah Jacobs
The Dominican Republic’s Community Technology Center (CTC) program is at the heart of its strategy to empower people and help them overcome problems such as poverty, unemployment, and poor health.
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This National Library Week, rediscover your library, as a portal to other worlds—and your own community.
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January 23, 2012 / Deborah Jacobs
The Pew Research Center has just issued a report indicating that “tablet and e-book reader ownership nearly doubled over the holiday gift-giving period” across the United States.
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October 17, 2011 / Deborah Jacobs
Today, in Jakarta, we launched the PerpuSeru project, in partnership with the Coca Cola Foundation of Indonesia.
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September 27, 2011 / Deborah Jacobs
Today marks the launch of a partnership between the foundation and the Colombian government, which aims to provide access to life-changing information and technologies through Colombia’s network of public libraries.
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