TORONTO – A new program at Toronto’s public libraries is allowing residents to check out home Internet service in addition to their books.
Thanks to a partnership with the City and Google, the Toronto Public Library (TPL) has launched a WiFi hotspot lending pilot program at six branches located in neighbourhoods with large numbers of low income households. Participants can borrow the hotspots for up to six months at a time and can use 10GB of data per month, though TPL said that it’s “actively investigating if vendors are willing to provide more flexible data services as this is critical to the program’s long-term success”. The pilot program currently has 210 participants.
City Librarian Vickery Bowles said that the ultimate aim of the program “is to give some of the most underserved in our city a way to bridge the tech divide”.
“The CRTC reports that only 59% of low income households have Internet access at home. The aim of this program is to increase access, build connections and to expand the opportunities afforded by the Internet”, Bowles wrote in a post on Google Official Canada blog. “Public libraries, as providers of access to technology, are catalysts for smart cities. In a smart city, no-one gets left behind simply because they can’t afford the technology or don’t know how to use it. If you want to do your homework, apply for a job, access government services, develop a skill, or send an email, you should be able to do that from home.”
