p2pnet news | Freedom:- People wanting to use computers in American libraries are to a large extent out of luck.

The average number of public Net terminals is substantially unchanged since 2002, and only 1 in 5 libraries say they have enough computers to meet demand at all times, says Associated Press, citing a new American Library Association study of 4,027 public libraries from the .

“We have this entirely brand new service coming to libraries, but the funding has not recognized that,” the story has Kathleen Reif, director of the St Mary’s County Library in Leonardtown, Maryland, saying.

Most library money comes from local and county governments, but some institutions are having to turn to such as fines and donations to pay for basic technology-related services.

In terms of access, “libraries are increasingly turning to wireless networking to help reduce wait,” says AP, adding:

“More than 17 percent of libraries say they plan to add wireless capabilities within a year, meaning 71 percent would be allowing patrons to connect through their own laptops and in some cases through loaner machines.

“We may be in fact where we were in 2002″ when many libraries still had only slower, dial-up access,” says Denise Davis, director of the American Library Association’s Office for Research and Statistics, in the story.

“Just everything is faster and larger files are being moved around.”

Poorer families are at risk “if the connection speeds … are not sufficient to take full advantage of what’s available on the Internet, and if there’s an insufficient supply of computers,” AP has Greg Shaw, director of US program advocacy for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which co-sponsored the study.

.Slashdot it!

Also See:

Associated Press – Despite Demand, Libraries Won’t Add PCs, September 12, 2007

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 12th, 2007 at 5:14 am and is filed under Freedom. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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