Study: Bandwidth, Workstations Still Lag

Preliminary results from the 2007 Public Library Funding & Technology Access Study suggest that even though nearly every public library in the country is connected to the Internet and more and more offer wireless service, libraries face challenges in providing sufficient workstations and bandwidth to meet the needs of users.

The study, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the American Library Association (ALA), is being conducted by John Carlo Bertot and Charles R. McClure of the Information Institute at Florida State University, Tallahassee. Initial findings were presented at the ALA annual conference June 23 in Washington, DC. The final report is due in September.

Among the 2007 data:

• of the 15,965 public library outlets with Internet connections, only 84 libraries (.5 percent) do not provide access to the public
• the typical library building has an average of 10.7 Internet workstations, virtually unchanged since 10.8 in 2002
• only about one-fifth of public library outlets reported having sufficient workstations to meet patron needs at all times; 58.8 percent reported too few workstations for patron use at various times throughout the day, while 18.7 percent reported consistently fewer workstations than needed
• some 54.2 percent of library outlets offer wireless access, up from 36.7 percent in 2006 and 17.9 percent in 2004
• some 29.2 percent of libraries offer broadband access at greater than 1.5 mbps, virtually the same as in 2006
• library directors hope for at least one IT staffer—or an additional one—“to manage the web page, implement new systems, teach classes, and handle day-to-day troubleshooting.”