Almost every public library in the country offers free computer and Web access to its patrons, but quality machines and high-speed Internet connections are expensive stuff. That’s the message of a new study conducted by a team of information-management researchers at Florida State University.
The study, commissioned by the American Library Association and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, found that 99% of the libraries maintain public computer stations—and that at most libraries, demand for the machines exceeds supply. But libraries’ IT budgets aren’t rising to meet that demand: Two out of three librarians said their technology finances had either stayed level or shrunk in the past year.
For more on the perils of public computing in libraries, see an article from The Chronicle by Scott Carlson.
