2. The Internet in Public Libraries


The vast majority of public libraries offer Internet access
to their patrons. According to a recent report by the U.S.
National Commission on Libraries and Information Science,
approximately 95% of all public libraries provide public access
to the Internet. John C. Bertot & Charles R. McClure, Public
Libraries and the Internet 2000: Summary Findings and Data
Tables, Report to National Commission on Libraries and
Information Science, at 3. The Internet vastly expands the
amount of information available to patrons of public libraries.
The widespread availability of Internet access in public
libraries is due, in part, to the availability of public funding,
including state and local funding and the federal funding
programs regulated by CIPA.
Many libraries face a large amount of patron demand for
their Internet services. At some libraries, patron demand for
Internet access during a given day exceeds the supply of computer
terminals with access to the Internet. These libraries use sign-
in and time limit procedures and/or establish rules regarding the
allowable uses of the terminals, in an effort to ration their
computer resources. For example, some of the libraries whose
librarians testified at trial prohibit the use of email and chat
functions on their public Internet terminals.
Public libraries play an important role in providing
Internet access to citizens who would not otherwise possess it.
Of the 143 million Americans using the Internet, approximately
10%, or 14.3 million people, access the Internet at a public
library. Internet access at public libraries is more often used