The Cincinnati Business Courier reported today that all 41 branches of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County now have wi-fi for the public. Normally, that would cause me to blog a big hooray. Alas, this is not to be one of those posts. The article isn’t very long but here’s the relevant bit:
“Subscribers to Cincinnati Bell’s Fuse dial-up service or ZoomTown high-speed Internet service can access wi-fi service for free in any library branch. For non-subscribers, the service is available on a pay-per-use basis of $4.95 an hour, or $9.95 for 24 hours, and can be billed to a credit card.”
In other words, this is the first I’ve heard of a library offering wi-fi access for a fee. It sounds like they basically allowed the local ISP (phone company) to install the equipment and sell the service in the library a la Starbucks and Borders. This news does not make me happy. From my experience, libraries have loved offering free wi-fi for the reduction of wear and tear on the library’s equipment, among many other reasons.
According to Kimber Fender, library executive director. “For those without computers and wireless access, the library provides free Internet access at all locations.”
I’m sorry, but this makes no sense to me at all. Please, use our equipment for free but if you want to you your own equipment please pony up some cash to the local baby bell. That’s one hell of public service policy.
I pretty much refuse to pay for wi-fi access but have been known to on occasion when very desperate. I’ve mostly been able to get away with this as more and more public libraries offer wi-fi access. That doesn’t seem to be the case in Cincinnati.
via Wi-Fi Net News
