Net at libraries: High demand

Where Internet use is concerned, demand is exceeding supply in America's libraries, and this is where the digital divide is most apparent. The American Library Association recently surveyed US
libraries and found that 99.6% are now connected to the Net (up from 20.9% in 1994), but for the first time its survey asked libraries
about how they were doing with meeting demand," the Associated Press reports. "Seventy percent of libraries said there aren't enough computer terminals during peak periods, while another 16% said there's always a shortage." The solution is time limits. On the surface they make sense, but low-income patrons are the ones losing out. "Shortages are most common in high-poverty and urban areas, the study found." For example, "libraries in California's Fresno County impose a half-hour limit during peak periods, but one branch reported that patrons needed two hours or more of computer time just to fill out online job applications for a new Home Depot store."