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A study released last Thursday found that 99.6 percent of all public library outlets were connected to the Internet in 2004. Of those libraries, 98.9 percent offer free public internet access.
The study was conducted by the Information Use and Management and Policy Institute at Florida State University. It was funded by the American Library Association and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
One finding said that "public libraries have as many workstations as they can afford or their building space will allow but more than 85 percent report not being able to meet demand for computers consistently or at certain times during the day."
"[We find that] almost every day after school," said Devon Murphy-Petersen, Assistant Director at the Waukee Public Library. "That's why we've gone with the policy of 'you can have it for one hour and if nobody is waiting, you can have it for another hour.'"
Murphy-Petersen said that when determining Internet use policy, it must be thought of in terms of fair use.
"It's real easy [to say] 'this kid's playing a video game so what he or she is doing is not as valid as someone that is doing a resume,'" said Murphy-Petersen. "And there's some validity to that, especially with kids that come in every day, but it's real hard to draw that line."
Another issue in the study was filtering. Researchers found that "almost 40 percent of all public libraries filter their public access Internet connectivity in some way, thus limiting access to a variety of Internet-based content."
The Waukee Public Library does not filter.
"There are a lot of reasons behind it," said Murphy-Petersen. "I think filters give people a false sense of security, but then you can let your kid get on and [say] nothing is ever going to happen to them, which is not true."
Murphy-Petersen said she is also skeptical of filtering companies because they may not tell you what they filter or why. She also said that this issue is similar to parents deciding what children can or cannot check out from the library.
"It's their parent's responsibility to teach them what they're allowed to look at, at home," said Murphy-Petersen. "Our policy says right in it that if you are looking at stuff that other people will find objectionable, you will lose your computer privileges."
Having the computers with Internet access in the center of the library has also helped and Murphy-Petersen said they have had very few problems.
The study found that "13.3 percent of libraries reported a decrease in their technology budgets from the previous year and 50.6 percent indicated their technology budgets stayed the same with no increase for inflation or demand for services."
The Waukee library does not have a separate technology budget and has had to spend very little on computers, thanks to donations.
"The vast majority of our computers have been purchased for us from the Friends [of the Library] or the [Library] Foundation," said Murphy-Petersen. "I think we only have two computers in the building that have come out of our regular operating budget."
Waukee is also consistent with other libraries in the nation for offering computer training for patrons. The study found that 64 percent of urban libraries offer training.
Waukee offers one class called "meet the mouse" several times per year and also a basic Internet class.
"We've also been involved in having e-Bay classes," said Murphy-Petersen. "All the rest of our classes have been free or very inexpensive. The e-Bay classes we have charged for because we've had a certified e-Bay trainer. That kind of expertise, we can't justify it in our budget without a fee."
Almost 18 percent of libraries offer wireless Internet with another 21 percent planning to offer it in the near future, including Waukee.
"We're looking at that right now," said Murphy-Petersen.
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