NCLIS, ALA Release Survey of
Public Library Internet Connectivity
The U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science and ALA have released the results of their 1998 National Survey of Public Library Outlet Internet Connectivity, based on a sample of 2,500 of the nation’s 15,718 public library outlets.
The survey found that 83.6% of the outlets have Internet connectivity, 73.3% provide public Internet access, and 68.6% offer graphical public Internet access. However, 28.3% have only one public-access graphic workstation, 14.3% have only two, and only 45.3% offer graphical public access to the World Wide Web at 56 kbps or greater.
Although the poverty level of the population served does not seem to be a significant factor in determining Internet availability, only 67.6% of rural public libraries offer public Internet access, as opposed to 76.7% of suburban libraries and 84.0% of urban libraries.
The report is for sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office for $16 (stock number: 040-000-00718-1); it can also be accessed on the NCLIS Web site.
Posted April 26, 1999.
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