Youth Services News Hot Spots in Covid Times

[Marivel Medel]

Regarding hotspots as discussed on the Youth Services zoom meeting today;

 

Our library was a part of a State library pilot program from 2016 that gave
us hotspots to test out for circulation. 

We decided to move forward with it after the 4 year testing period despite
losing about one hotspot per quarter to patrons who never returned or
returned the them to us. 

Recently we reached out to T-Mobile to purchase 5 more hotspots planning to
purchase with regular funds. They had a sort of promotion  for Covid-19
times and were able to give them to us for free with an additional price
reduction for the data. This was amazing, obviously, but we think that it
was also just sheer luck/generosity of these times that we were able to get
them for free. I would not count on this being a regular promotion but of
course anyone is free to try with T- Mobile. 

 

So just a few tips I have for libraries attempting to add hotspots to
circulation in these times based on what our experiences have been;

 

*         When you contact internet providers about the possibility of
reduced costs ask to speak to government reps/ community outreach reps-
state you are a public library/ school library etc. first so you start off
talking to the right person who can help you best with price
reductions/promotions. Providers usually haves separate departments for
this. 

*         First reach out to the internet providers in your area that best
cover your population - we have patrons in outlying communities where the
coverage does not work. Most internet providers have a map of coverage on
their websites to see where you fall. 

*         Rates and device prices lie anywhere in-between 10-100 bucks a
month for different data plans. Make sure to understand technically
unlimited plans - watch out for data caps! With our data caps this means
patrons who check out hotspots at the end of the month will have
significantly slower data speeds. 

*         In our catalog we typically have different hotspots with different
permissions; for example we have a strictly reserve-able hotspot and a first
come first hotspot that is un-reservable, this helps us give everyone a
better chance of getting one in a timely fashion. Where this could be useful
for Covid times in specific is perhaps making some hotspots only
reserve-able for students, or for families with more than a certain amount
of school aged children, teachers etc. 

 

The Public Library Association has a great hotspot playbook
<http://www.ala.org/pla/initiatives/digitallead/hotspot-playbook>  that has
tons of good info. 

 

Hopefully some of this information is at least a little useful to anyone :) 

 

MJ Medel

Children's/Youth Services Librarian

Silver City Public Library

(575) 538-3672

515 W College Ave

Silver City, NM 88061

 

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