Mary Magnuson and I finished our tour of Western MN, with a final visit to the LqP Computer Commuter, a mobile computer lab and classroom that has been touring 6 sites a week around Lac qui Parle County. In 12 years, they have served about 500 people out of a county of 7,000. It received early funding from the Blandin Foundation. We thought it might be around for 5 years tops but Mary Quick has kept it running well past expected lifespan.
Mary drives the tricked out former hotel van around helping people use technology. Originally, the bus served a lot of students with new computers and free printing but in the last few years the patrons have aged. While we were in the library, Mary and I heard from the librarian that she had spent time in the Computer Commuter using the CC computer to watch videos while trying to learn new software on her own laptop. So many people have great stories like that. In fact, if you have a grandparent from LqP who knows how to use Zoom, you can probably thank Mary!
Many of the patrons have helped keep the Computer Commuter going the last few years with donations and generous memorial donations. Mary is moving out of the area but, as she says in the video, she’s there to help anyone who is interested in a similar project in their community.
Blandin on Broadband 
Part of a great story there in LqP County. Glad to see their story of 100% coverage and come to an end and the Computer Commuter, do we know anyone else who has done this?
The idea of the tricked out mobile lab certainly took off – especially in tribal areas, but LqP was definitely an early adopter. Here’s an article on the idea – several years after LqP was up and going https://slate.com/technology/2015/10/using-buses-to-bring-technology-to-underserved-communities.html