On Monday, the Spring Hill Public Library became one of the country’s first pilot programs for public Wi-Fi lending.
The library will add mobile hotspots to its diverse collection of free lending materials through an agreement with a major cellular provider, allowing library patrons to have mobile Internet service virtually anywhere in the nation and 120 countries throughout the world.
Spring Hill Library Director Alan Couch, who landed the groundbreaking pilot in Spring Hill, announced the new service at Monday’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting.
“Effectively, what this means is, we will be erasing the digital divide for residents of Spring Hill in Maury and Williamson counties,” Couch said. “If someone has lost a job or is unable to have Internet service at home, we remove that barrier for them so that virtually anywhere in the nation our library patrons will be able to access Wi-Fi.”
This summer, the public library systems in Chicago, New York City and Sandusky, Ohio, used grant funds to become the first pilot programs to offer Wi-Fi hotspot lending. In New York, the service is limited to low-income residents enrolled in the library’s adult-learning or after-school programs. And for either of these services, the service works only in major cities.
However, Spring Hill’s cellular partnership will be the first of its kind in the U.S. as it allows any Spring Hill Library patron to check out a mobile Wi-Fi device for up to three consecutive weeks, connecting them to nationwide high-speed Internet service on a network capable of servicing 96 percent of Americans, Couch said.
Spring Hill’s new service begins Tuesday, Dec. 9, offering 15 mobile Wi-Fi hotspots, five Wi-Fi USB sticks, and five tablets.
“As librarians across Tennessee know all too well, many people do not have access to a good Internet connection at home,” said State Librarian and Archivist Chuck Sherrill. “This initiative by the Spring Hill Library to provide a portable hotspot connection free to library users is innovative and exciting. I’m sure it will become a model that other libraries will emulate.”
Couch added that the hot spots also create convenience even for those with home Internet service needing an off-site connection.
“Let’s say there’s a gathering, or someone wants to have a barbecue in the park; our residents will be able to provide to their friends and family high-speed Internet anywhere they want,” Couch said. “They can take it with them on vacation or a business trip. You can take this to Miami; you can take it to Seattle, and you’ll have access.”
