PL Internet Access Nearly Universal

No matter the fiscal status of the community, nearly all public libraries now have an Internet connection, a small but steady rise from the last comprehensive national study two years ago. Those libraries also offer increased database access, including remote access. The filtering of chat and objectionable content is up as well.

These findings come from Public Libraries and the Internet 2002: Internet Connectivity and Networked Services, by John Carlo Bertot, associate professor and associate director, Information Use Management and Policy Institute, School of Information Studies, Florida State University, Tallahassee, and Charles R. McClure, Francis Eppes Professor and director of the institute. The study, based on 1100 completed surveys, was released in December. The study was commissioned by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Some 98.7% of public library outlets have an Internet connection, up from 95.7% in 2000. No urban library lacks the Internet, while rural library access has increased from 93.3% in 2000 to 97.8% in 2002. Nearly all library outlets (95.3%) also provide the Internet: 100% of urban library outlets, up from 97.7% in 2000.

Libraries offering public access have an average of 10.8 workstations per outlet, up from 8.3 in 2000. Over four years, public library outlets have doubled or almost tripled the number of public access workstations.

Also, connection speeds have increased. Some 49.1% of outlets have T1 or faster connectivity, up from 36.2% in 2000. Nearly half of rural libraries have greater than 56kbps service, up from 35.4% in 2000.

Now 90.6% of public library outlets offer database subscription services, up from 81.1% in 2000. Some 44.3% of libraries provide remote database access, up from 36.1% in 2000.

In a change from the 2000 study, the recent study asked libraries about filtering Internet services such as chat as well as content considered objectionable. Of respondents, 16.4% block Internet services on all public access workstations, 9.6% block on some workstations, and 73.9% do not filter these.

As for Internet content, 24.4% of library outlets reported filtering on all workstations, and 17.5% reported filtering some workstations. Some 58.1% of respondents don't filter at all. Two years ago, 75.5% of libraries didn't filter, with 9.6% filtering all workstations and 14.9% filtering some workstations.

Will libraries filter under pressure? The study found that 29.9% of libraries surveyed would continue to apply for E-rate discounts if the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) is upheld, and 18.9% would not. More than half weren't sure what they would do; CIPA, which links receipt of E-rate discounts to filtering, is under appeal (see News, p. 20).

Compared with two years ago, Internet-related technology and infrastructure is being funded less by local governments (down 13.5%) and more by state libraries (up 16.2%) and the federal government (up 4.8%).

The study states that E-rate discount funding has decreased by 5.5% in two years, while library foundation funding has increased by 10.6%. Other increases came from the Gates Library Program (up 2.6%) and gifts, contributions, donations, local fundraisers, and other local sources (up 12.3%).