CLICC closing the technology gap for 30 years

Not every UCLA student has access to the technology their classes require, such as laptops that can run specialized software or a reliable charger to get them through a long day on campus. The UCLA Library’s Campus Library Instructional Computing Commons (CLICC), which turns 30 this year, helps close that gap by lending students the equipment they need, from MacBooks, iPads and calculators to microphone kits and phone and computer chargers.

CLICC opened in 1996 as a single computer lab with 100 desktop computers. Three decades later, it circulates nearly 1,000 pieces of equipment for short and long-term loans across seven campus libraries and provides access to tech-enabled classrooms and virtual desktops that allow students to access software and applications from anywhere.

Yet its mission remains the same.

The students who staff its lending labs see the program’s value up close. Emily Kim, a human biology and society major, has helped countless students, but clearly remembers the relief of a student whose laptop stopped working less than an hour before an exam. A CLICC device allowed her to take the midterm as scheduled.

“You could see the relief when we told her we had a laptop for her,” Kim said. “Students are often surprised that borrowing equipment is free and as simple as checking out a book from the Library.”

Lauren Ito, a microbiology major, finds it especially rewarding assisting those who need CLICC the most. She recalls providing a laptop to a student who was the sole provider for her siblings and simply could not afford a computer.

“She had so much responsibility already, and she was still doing everything she could to keep up,” Ito said. “I was really happy we could take one worry off her plate and let her know she wasn’t on her own.”