Library users can ‘borrow the internet’ in new pilot for low-income St. Catharines residents
Pilot is for residents of two Niagara Regional Housing complexes
St. Catharines Public Library is helping residents who can’t afford Wi-fi to make a connection in a new pilot project that lets them “borrow the internet.”
The library has acquired 10 Wi-fi hotspot devices which will be available to lend to residents at two Niagara Regional Housing buildings on Carlton Street within the next couple of weeks.
While the project is limited to the public housing complexes, Rita Di Marcantonio, manager of branch services, said the library hopes to eventually obtain funding to expand the program across the city.
“A lot of people do not have access to online because it’s really expensive,” she said. “If you’re on a fixed income, it’s really hard to be paying up to $70 a month for unlimited internet and then you also have to have a device.”
The library received $7,400 in funding from Niagara Community Foundation to buy the 10 devices and unlimited data plans for up to a year.
Residents at 479 and 527 Carlton St. will be able to borrow the devices for two weeks at a time from their neighbourhood Dr. Huq Family Library branch.
Di Marcantonio said the initiative happened quickly after the library was approached in December by the non-profit Cyber-seniors, which helps seniors learn digital literacy skills.
Cyber-seniors set up a Wi-fi lab at 479 Carlton St. for the seniors there but because of the pandemic, the common room was closed. The organization wondered if there was anything the library could do to provide wireless access for residents.
“For seniors, especially now when everything is out of reach because of lock downs, this kind of connection is vital,” said Nancy Siciliana, Cyber-seniors program manager for Niagara.
“It’s not something that is negotiable anymore. How important it is, it can be life or death for people. It has had an impact on people’s mental health, people’s physical health, not to be able to connect during this time when people are just being kept apart.”
St. Catharines library patrons are usually able to connect to the internet on computers at every branch. In 2019, those computers were used more than 53,000 times.
But with COVID-19, access to the computers has been limited. In 2020, only 18,000 usages were logged because the libraries were closed to in-person visits for almost six months.
St. Catharines library chief executive officer Ken Su said the pilot will allow patrons who can’t come to library to use computers because of COVID-19 lockdowns to keep connected online.
“We are trying to think outside of the box because we cannot physically be there, so how do we provide service to the community?”
Cyber-seniors has been setting up free Wi-fi labs in common rooms and teaching seniors basic technology skills on their tablets, laptops and cellphones in Niagara since 2016.
It has now shifted its programming online and run workshops and activities virtually through www.cyberseniors.org. Seniors who are starting from scratch and don’t know how to get online can call 844-217-3057 to get started.
Siciliana said it has become necessary to be online now and it’s the the way many seniors will be paying their bills, putting in applications and seeing their doctors.
The majority of people in Cyber-seniors programs have internet access, but she said with a minimum internet cost of $55 a month in Niagara, it’s not doable for everyone.
“We are dealing with a population where funds are extremely limited and people are very careful,” she said. “There are certain things out of their reach.”
It’s what Conor Echlin, manager of customer experience at Welland Public Library, said is the “digital divide.”
Welland Public Library has had two hotspots available to lend out to any patrons since September 2018 and demand has been high.
Echlin said there hasn’t been a period where there hasn’t been a significant holds list since they were introduced into circulation.
“If anything, COVID has just exasperated the demand for hotspots just because there are people at home right now and there is a very real digital divide,” he said.
“That’s why we got them in the first place. There are people who just don’t have computers at home and can’t afford internet access.”
Echlin said the library is hoping to add some more this year but it will come down to budgets and what the library can afford to do.
“We can confidently say hotspots are more in demand now than ever.”