Search

Please enter a valid search term.

Dallas to consider expanding Wi-Fi at public libraries

Published by The Register Citizen on September 10, 2019

DALLAS (AP) — On a hot September morning, Victor Moreno and his girlfriend, Cameron Dahlia, drove about 2 miles to the Pleasant Grove Branch Library. The two waited in the parking lot for the building's 10 a.m. opening, to catch some time on the library's internet in the hour and a half of free time they had carved out before work.

The Dallas Morning News reports a couple times a month, Moreno — a full-time construction worker — visits the library to apply for jobs, check his email and peruse college classes. While he pays for internet at his mother's house for his 14-year-old brother, Moreno didn't set up broadband at his own apartment. It was 920x920 300x203too expensive for him to pay for both.

They weren't alone. Some sat on the benches near the front doors, using the Wi-Fi on their phones without entering the library space. One woman, 28-year-old Nataly Del Toro, said she visits the branch at least three times a week to print out homework materials for her two kids.

Dallas officials have been grappling with the lack of access to internet service in many neighborhoods for years. But to address the disparity, city officials hope to start with libraries. A pilot program set to launch by January would provide hundreds of mobile hot spots that can be checked out like a book or DVD. Patrons with library cards can check out a mobile hot spot device for up to a month.

Dallas would be among a growing number of cities to use public funds to expand internet access. Cities that already offer mobile hot spots through their libraries include Fort Worth, as well as New York City, Chicago and Seattle. The Dallas Independent School District also will provide hot spots to families who don't have internet.

About 45% of households in the Pleasant Grove neighborhood don't have internet access, according to most recent estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Few pockets in Dallas showed higher percentages: The majority of households in areas around Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Lancaster-Kiest didn't have internet. West Dallas estimates were above 45%.

But when city officials planned to set aside $137,000 for Wi-Fi hot spots to be checked out of certain branch libraries, Pleasant Grove was not one of them. City Council member Jaime Resendez wants to change that.

City officials planned for hot spots to be distributed evenly among three libraries: Martin Luther King Jr., Highland Hills and Dallas West. And while Resendez acknowledged lack of internet access in those neighborhoods as well, he said he also thought: "God, they keep overlooking southeast Dallas."

The city used census estimates that reported the households without internet access to research the need and plan out the branch libraries that would receive hot spots. Areas of the city with the largest percentage of households without internet were largely concentrated in West Dallas and southern Dallas, with the largest spot in the southeast.

1024x1024 300x241"There's a huge need. When you look at the map, it's all dark," Resendez said. "It's ridiculous to me."

The District 5 council member this month proposed a change to the city manager's budget that would add $238,000 to the pilot program — which would triple the number of hot spots from around 300 to an estimated 900 devices available to residents.

Jo Giudice, Dallas Public Library director, said plans initially included devices to be distributed evenly in branch libraries that had strong partnerships with community centers, which can help train patrons how to use internet resources.

If council members approve the expansion in the final budget vote on Sept. 18, Giudice said city officials will come together to determine which additional libraries will receive the devices.

"It's going to be some tough decisions," Giudice said. "We want to be as fair and equitable as possible and make sure we're serving the residents with the most need."

Read the original article here