Nicole Ludden When Pima County’s public facilities were forced to close to the public as a pandemic precaution, the parking lots of the county’s libraries became full with people trying to access a Wi-Fi signal.
People are also reading… The county’s public library and information technology department partnered to assemble the “Strategic Planning Taskforce for Digital Access in Pima County,” which created a long-term plan to increase access to affordable and reliable broadband internet. “It's not the necessity, in my view, of placing additional or better service in the libraries and community centers,” he said. “It's on the rooftops, it’s getting them into people's homes. And the plan, even though it was preliminary, didn't seem to address that at all.”
But by the end of September this year, the goal is to increase the number of publicly accessible hot spots by 10 sites in each county district. By the end of the year, the task force hopes to create a plan to address gaps in digital literacy and perform a community needs assessment. If the Board of Supervisors approves the contract, the county will set up 130 external hot spots in rural, underserved areas that residents can access will a log-in provided by the library.
“We're in the nascent stages,” Simon said. “We're trying to get the pieces in place so we turn it all on and let everybody know.” But longer-term goals, which could include building fiber-optic networks so underserved areas can access the internet at home, might be more pricey.