San Juan Island Library is making available WiFi hotspots. People over the age of 18 can check out a hotspot device for three weeks to receive internet service via a cell tower. The program is free of charge, and is partially supported by a San Juan Island Community Foundation grant. These devices won’t work in locations that can’t receive T-Mobile signals, but islanders should be able to get internet service in many locations, including while traveling.
Providing WiFi hotspots to the community through our lending library makes sense because we are increasingly dependent on internet access for work and recreation. Educational programs, including those available for free through a library account, such as Lynda.com or Learning Express, require internet access. And a new trend is that many independent films are no longer available in physical DVD format and are only available through online streaming.
The experience of other libraries across the country has shown that lending hotspots is popular for libraries like ours. The expansion of the T-Mobile wireless network in conjunction with Rock Island over the last several years means that many locations throughout the island can now get an internet connection, which may have been impossible a few years ago.
Check them out here.