DALLAS (1080 KRLD) - Mobile internet hotspots are now available to check out at nearly every public library in Dallas.
For the past year, Dallas libraries have had about 900 mobile hotspots available for check out. The service, which gives people without home broadband access to the internet, was already popular. But now, Jo Giudice, Director of libraries for the city, says it's needed more than ever.
"In the current environment we're in, with folks working from home or looking for jobs from home … the internet is just an essential utility," Giudice says. "But as the census data tells us, about 40 percent of the households in the City of Dallas are without internet access in their homes."
To help, city officials approved the purchase of 2,100 more mobile hotspots. Now, every Dallas Public Library location (except for Bookmarks at NorthPark Center) has at least 85 hotspots available for check out.
Up to five devices can be connected to the hotspots and they're able to be rented for weeks at a time-- but Giudice says they're going fast.
"We have a wait list for them," she says. "The best way to [check them out] is to put in a request in for one using the word 'hotspot' in the catalog."
Hotspots can be requested online at www.dallaslibrary.org, by phone at 214-670-7809, or by contacting a local branch.
