Youth Services News [EXT] Hot Spots in Covid Times

[Moore, Patricia, DCA]

Just FYI - contact info for a T-Mobile person who's worked w/a number of NM libraries in the past.  I don't know if Silver City worked through Chad or someone else...

Chad Sundloff
Sr. Government Account Manager
Mobile 801.953.9238
cha<mailto:%0Dchad.sundloff at t-mobile.com>d.s<mailto:%0Dchad.sundloff at t-mobile.com>undloff at t-mobile.com<mailto:%0Dchad.sundloff at t-mobile.com>


Patricia
Patricia Moore
G.O. Bond and Technology Consultant
NM State Library - Development Bureau
505.476.9724 // 800.340.3890


From: nmythserv-bounces at lists.zianet.com [mailto:nmythserv-bounces at lists.zianet.com] On Behalf Of Marivel Medel
Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2020 12:08 PM
To: nmythserv at lists.zianet.com
Subject: [EXT] Youth Services News Hot Spots in Covid Times

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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