Libraries ride wireless Internet wave

By Maveric Vu

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Posted: Tuesday, March 13, 2007 11:48 AM CDT

WIRELESS: Andrea Silvas browses the Internet for free at the Calaveras County Library in San Andreas. Enterprise photo by Maveric Vu.

Calaveras residents who own a laptop equipped with a wireless modem may find that their electronics have collected dust.

However, with plans for the Calaveras County Library System to provide free wireless Internet access, it may be time to brush off that power key.

Access and security issues will be heard today at the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors afternoon meeting in San Andreas.

"People are expecting it to be here," said Maurie Hoekstra, Calaveras County Librarian, "Assuming because we're a library, that it would be."

Wireless Internet access, using a high-speed T1 line, allows laptop users with compatible wireless modems within a certain radius to connect to the library's central hub.

However, the board will decide if the content being looked up should be restricted or not.

"This is a whole new arena and the control isn't necessarily there," Hoekstra said.

A potential problem with completely unfiltered access is that users could search for pornographic material while sitting in the library parking lot, where minors are usually present, said an agenda report.

Minors with laptops could also jump on the Internet without any safeguards.

"Right now if a minor wants to use the Internet (on a desktop), they have to have parental permission on file," Hoekstra said.

One solution would be to provide filtered access to laptop users and continue with unmonitored for the computers inside the library. A "splash page" could also be used to warn users about Internet policies before surfing the Web.

While security issues will need to be addressed, Hoekstra emphasized the service it would provide to residents and visitors. A person who needed to check last-minute facts before a meeting or a tourist who needed to look at maps would benefit, the report said.

"I personally want to have 24/7 access out to the parking lot," Hoekstra said, referring to open use beyond the county libraries' limited operation hours.

The Calaveras Friends of the Library has already volunteered to front the costs and the library could piggyback off of the Government Center's access line.

Providing wireless Internet would also lessen the wait times for people wanting to use the desktop computers. County libraries have been offering desktop computers with free online capabilities since 1998.

"Most of the time there is a wait," said Andrea Silvas, 16, who was using one of the five connected computers at the county library in San Andreas. "If there is a wait to use a computer, I just walk home."

Silvas is one of many patrons who visit the library daily just to jump on the Internet. While she does have a computer at home, she can only get online at the library and Calaveras High School.

She said she prefers the library because access isn't restricted. She usually spends her time watching video clips of cartoons or chatting online with friends, she said.

The only rule is that she has to be home by 5 p.m., per order of her mother, Silvas said.

After direction from the board, wireless Internet hubs will hit the Mokelumne Hill, Murphys and San Andreas libraries first, with future plans for all county libraries, Hoekstra said.

The county library system is actually a pioneer in offering free wireless Internet access to Calaveras residents. The Valley Springs Starbucks, for example, offers wireless Internet through T-Mobile Hotspot, a service that customers pay for.

Hoekstra said she spoke with some coffee shops owners who opted not to provide Internet access out of worry that a person would buy one cup of coffee and sit all day browsing the Web.

"That's what we want," Hoekstra said. "We want people to come to the library."

Contact Maveric Vu at mvu@calaverasenterprise.com.

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