Free Internet: The Librarians's Tale

Too much demand for too few terminals
USUALLY by ten in the morning at the Erna Fergusson public library in Albuquerque a dozen people are waiting in line to use the computers. Shortly after the doors opened on a weekday this summer there was someone typing at every screen. Two young girls dressed an online doll together; next to them a man in a Dallas Cowboys cap applied for a job at a hardware chain. He’s living with his parents for a while, he explained, and he doesn’t like to wait to use the internet.


Almost all of America’s public libraries provide free internet access. Over the past two years, hard-hit Americans have been economising by cancelling their broadband contracts at home and looking to public libraries to fill the gap. At the same time, companies and government agencies are saving money by moving job applications and services online; so a rush of new visitors is arriving at libraries just as the local governments that fund them run out of money.

This year three-quarters of America’s public libraries have told the American Library Association that public use of the internet increased at their branches, and roughly the same number said that they didn’t have enough computers to meet demand. A majority of American states have cut funding to their libraries during the year.

The weak economy is forcing libraries to redefine their role. Close to 70% of America’s public libraries now say their staff help patrons complete job applications online, and the same number offer help with résumés. “Workforce Solutions”—as the state of New Mexico calls the dole—requires a weekly check-in. For many people, long queues or long journeys means it is only practical to do this online. Lynne Fothergill, a head librarian at Erna Fergusson, says she noticed an increasing number of online check-ins in early 2009; they are now a primary function of the library’s two 15-minute computer terminals.

Nationally, the number of libraries reporting that they help patrons with e-government services has risen by almost half. As with private employers, when state and local governments save money by moving services online, they actually shift some of those costs to the point of access: for many of those most likely to need jobs and benefits, this is the local library.

Perversely, computers are often more expensive for public libraries than for individuals, and harder to buy. In Albuquerque, any city purchase over $500 requires approval by a technical review committee. A single library desktop, with all of the officially necessary licences and security and session-management programmes, costs the city a whopping $1,800.

The best way for America to ease the new strain on its libraries is by closing the digital divide; companies and state agencies are unlikely ever to give up the efficiencies they won by moving online. Around $7 billion of 2009’s stimulus went to expand broadband access. But encouraging competition among America’s expensive broadband providers, and hence lower prices for consumers, might do this more cheaply than subsidies.

from: The Economist