Should Public Libraries Charge For Internet Access?

from the what-to-do... dept

Libraries have become a great place for many people to get internet access when they don't have other options. Some even point out that libraries have been one of the great resources in fighting the "digital divide." So, it's no surprise to find out people are angry that a library has decided to start charging for internet access. Admittedly, it's relatively cheap ($1/hour), but some are questioning what sort of message it's sending to patrons. The library claims that the costs of offering computers and access is just too high, and this was the only way to offset those costs. In reading about this, I'm reminded that I used to borrow movies from the library for free - but now they charge a small fee. Still, when confronted, the someone at the library said that if someone really couldn't afford it, they'd make an exception.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    Jeff, 1 Apr 2004 @ 6:23am

    Its not too high if you don't rely on Microsoft so

    I could easily outfit my local library system with a Linux server and thin clients at a fraction of the cost of what they spend. But the local library's IT director is a Microsoft fan. They even named the computer room after the Bill and Melissa Gates Foundation since I'm sure they got funding from them for the computers.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 1 Apr 2004 @ 8:52am

    Cheap?

    $1/hour seems pretty expensive to me.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Jason Cook, 1 Apr 2004 @ 10:59am

    Re: Its not too high if you don't rely on Microsof

    A library here hired me to set up that exact solution for them. I was able to leverage all of their aging pc's as diskless clients with a $1,000 server running debian with a locked-down KDE environment.

    Their daily administration tasks essentially dropped to nothing. They turned the clients on in the morning and turned them off at night. After an initial shakedown period, there hasn't been a single support call.

    I was also able to use the box as a firewall for the windows clients they used for admin stuff. In the end they were able to spend less than what it would have cost to replace all the windows machines and got an environment that made their lives simpler.

    Oh, and these people wanted GNU/Linux. In my experience Librarians have grasped the concepts and benefits of Free Software better than any group I have come across

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    dane, 11 May 2010 @ 3:11pm

    charging for the internet

    Libraries should provide 2 internet services. Service one would consist of a 2 dollar an hour internet fee with unfiltered internet. Each computer would be inside a pricavy both and have plenty of tissue available. Service 2 would be free filtered internet.

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.