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Not long ago, I blogged here about how many libraries have seen an uptick in demand for their free Internet access as a result of burgeoning unemployment rates. Well, a co-worker dropped the local section of the San Jose Mercury News on my desk last week because of a front-page article that expands on the topic.
The article discussed the Santa Clara Country Library and how they've actually had to shut down public access computers due to the high demand, because their less-than-ideal bandwidth has caused a bottleneck in their ability to provide other critical library services. They've already shut down 1/3 of their more than 400 public access computers to free up network capacity. All this, despite the higher demand from community members who are out of work and need computers to conduct their job searches and many others who've reported that they had to cut their home Internet access because money is tight.
According to one librarian, "The bandwidth is our big bottleneck. Demand has increased exponentially since last fall. It just outpaced us." An IT manager for the library system had this to say about the bandwidth problem, "The bandwidth required for today's user is massive compared to even two years ago. We've seen 200-700 percent increased for just storage for bandwidth." We know this is a constant issue facing libraries as users demand faster connections and use more graphic and image-heavy applications. How do you keep up? Well, we've discussed this topic here before, so if this is an issue plaguing your library, you may want to check out our Cookbook section on bandwidth-management or an archived 30-minute webinar that both offer some advice.
Your advice is most welcome too, so feel free to share your tips and tricks for managing your bandwidth in the comments. Has your library had to turn people away or shut down public access computers due to this issue? Had the demand for Internet access increased for you? How do you balance the high demand with diminishing connectivity?
Photo: rosemarylong, Creative Commons
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Tell us about your daily routine maintaining public computers, or a moment when you were particularly proud. Don't forget that what might be "that's nothing" to you may be an "aha!" to someone else!
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