While More Americans Rely on Parking Lot Wi-Fi, Many Public Libraries Do Not Have Adequate Broadband

Many digital equity advocates applauded the Federal Communications Commission’s recent clarification explicitly allowing public schools and libraries to let their communities access E-Rate-supported Wi-Fi services while their buildings are closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. This development will hopefully make public libraries feel more comfortable sharing their E-Rate-supported Wi-Fi access without fearing any penalties from the FCC. And, as Cecelia Kang’s recent New York Times article shows, this development is sorely needed particularly for those reliant on public library parking lot internet access in communities across the US. However, as our research team was reminded in our recent study on the broadband capacity of public libraries across the state of Montana, not all libraries in the U.S. have the broadband capacity required to provide Wi-Fi access regardless of whether their doors are open or closed.

[Colin Rhinesmith is an Associate Professor and Director of the Community Informatics Lab in the Simmons University School of Library and Information Science. Jo Dutilloy received a BA in Comparative Literature from Bryn Mawr College and is working towards a dual Master’s degree in Archives and History at Simmons. Susan Kennedy is a Graduate Research Assistant for the Community Informatics Lab at the School of Library and Information Science at Simmons University.]