The New York Public Library, as well as the Queens Library and the Brooklyn Public Library, will begin renting out 10,000 Wi-Fi hotspots to residents later this month, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. A press release provided to Ars by the New York Public library noted that the New York and Brooklyn Public Libraries will rent out the hotspots for six months to a year to residents who don't have broadband and who are enrolled in library programs and adult learning programs. The Queens Library will lend the mobile hotspots from five of its libraries to anyone with a library card.
The hotspots will be provided by Sprint.A New York Public Library spokesperson told Ars via e-mail that people who borrow the hotspots will need "to sign an 'acceptable use agreement'" as required by Sprint. "It essentially states that the user will not do anything illegal with the Wi-Fi (such as illegally download movies)," the spokesperson said. In addition, renters of the hotspots will be afforded the same privacy protections they would have if they had purchased the hotspot themselves.
The announcement is yet another front in New York City's efforts to bring Internet access to all of its residents. Earlier this month, the city announced that it will roll out a new communications network called LinkNYC, which will turn old payphones into kiosks that offer "up to gigabit speeds." Those 10,000 kiosks will be funded by advertisements surrounding them and will offer free domestic calls as well.
Still, the LinkNYC plan has been criticized for falling short in serving all of the residents of New York City equitably, especially given that the kiosks will be placed far enough apart in many poorer neighborhoods that residents will see gaps in being able to connect. The hotspot rental plan through the public library system will be a step forward in filling those gaps and closing the digital divide that exists between poor and wealthier families. (That is to say, wealthier residents will not be able to just check out a hotspot and go work in the park.)
Currently, computers at the city's public libraries are packed. “At every branch you walk into, every computer is being used all the time,” Anthony Marx, president of the New York Public Library, told The Wall Street Journal. “As more and more of what the library offers moves online, it became obvious that there was a problem.”
In a press release e-mailed to Ars, the New York Public Library said the funding for the program came from a $500,000 donation from a coalition of nonprofits, as well as a $1 million donation from Google. The New York Public Library ran a six-month pilot of the hotspot rental program this summer. During the pilot program, the library conducted a survey that found that 55 percent of its patrons using the Internet and computers in its branches did not have broadband access at home. Of those patrons using the free Internet in the library who reported making $25,000 or less each year, 65 percent said that they did not have Internet access at home.
As part of the launch, Google is also providing 500 free Chromebooks to be distributed to children and teens enrolled in library programs.
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