In Richford, a Media Card Request Reveals How Far 'We Are RONA' Has Reached
A Richford resident's quiet request to borrow Episode Six of the McGill collective's community podcast — before it even exists — says something about connectivity gaps and cultural reach in RONA's smaller towns.
In Richford, a Media Card Request Reveals How Far 'We Are RONA' Has Reached
RICHFORD, Vermont — On a Saturday morning in Richford — a small border community in the Vermont principality — a library patron approached staff member Colette Aubin-Roy with an unusual request: could the library prepare an offline media card for Episode Six of Nous Sommes RONA / We Are RONA once the McGill student collective releases it? The patron, whose home connection is unreliable, has been tracking the project's community board closely enough to think ahead. Aubin-Roy told the Ronan Times she had not yet considered the possibility, but said she would look into it — calling the question "the most forward-looking thing anyone has asked me about this whole process." No release date for Episode Six has been announced.
The exchange is a small but telling detail: in 2042, a podcast produced by university students in Montreal is being anticipated in a town where internet access remains intermittent — and a library media card is the infrastructure that closes the gap.