Internet Access and Our Libraries

By Andy Flynt
Director of Reference Services, Spartanburg County Public Libraries

Libraries across the country have been providing Internet access since the mid-1990s and wireless access since the mid-2000s. Spartanburg County Public Libraries (SCPL) has provided wireless access to the public since at least 2010 with access points inside all of our locations. Reception in our main library parking lot and branch library parking lots has been hit or miss. At one point, it was a safety issue to provide this access after hours in our parking lots. Bandwidth also became an issue. As people realized we had the service and streaming audio and video became more widespread, we began to use more and more bandwidth in providing our wireless access.

Things changed when COVID appeared. We had patrons sitting in our parking lots even as our libraries were closed due to the pandemic. The increased need was quickly evident and we responded. By the spring of 2022, the libraries had secured funding for longer range Wi-Fi access points at all of our buildings and by August 2022, we can confidently say that expanded Wi-Fi access is available at all of our locations and covers the greatest parts of all of our parking lots.

Another area that we saw a need was in lending MiFi hotspots. Many areas of our county still don’t have good broadband access to the Internet and we recognized that need several years ago. As the pandemic hit, we began our own MiFi lending program. SCPL’s MiFi lending program is called SCPL Hotspot. We started the program in 2020 as a partnership program through the SC State Library. The State Library provided MiFi devices and service via Kajeet. We started with 22 MiFi units in December 2020. We have a few requirements in place to borrow a device: 

1. Patron’s library card must be in good standing,
2. Patron must fill out a MiFi lending agreement form and
3. Patron must be 17 years of age or older.

The program with the State Library ended in June 2021, so we now have a subscription with T-Mobile. We started with 25 devices and rolled out an additional 30 units in June 2022. Currently, we have 55 devices. This year alone, we have had 680 circulations with a total of 932 lifetime circulations. The waiting list for these hotspots is about 60 holds as of November 15, 2022.

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