New Survey: 73% of Public Libraries
Offer Internet
The results of a new survey of public library connectivity released September 14 show that a weighted average of 73% of all U.S. public library outlets—more than 15,700 central libraries and branches—offer public Internet access.
A total of 84% of the libraries in urban areas offer access, 77% in suburban areas, and 68% in rural areas. Of those with public access, 74% have three or fewer workstations.
Fifteen percent of the libraries offering public access are using filters on some or all of their workstations, while 85% have an acceptable-use policy in place.
The survey was conducted by ALA's Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP), in cooperation with the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science and the Gates Library Foundation. It is the fourth such survey, but the first to look at practices at all the library branches rather than central libraries alone.
A summary of the results will be available in late October on the OITP Web site, and the full report will appear by the end of the year.
Posted September 21, 1998.
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