Chapter 2: Public Libraries and the Internet

Abstract

Since 1994, the
Public Libraries and the Internet
and
Public Library Funding and Technology Access
national surveys have charted the involvement with and use of the Internet by US public libraries. During that time, thirteen national studies have provided longitudinal data that track trends in the public-access computing and Internet access provided by public libraries to the communities that they serve. This chapter of The
Transforming Public Library Technology Infrastructure
provides an overview and review of selected data from these national studies; identifies key trends and changes in Internet-enabled services and resources provided by public libraries to their communities over the course of the seventeen years of conducting the national surveys; examines key issues that emerge from the data regarding public library Internet use and involvement; and considers selected future issues regarding public library Internet-enabled services, particularly as the public access that libraries provide their communities takes on increasing importance in supporting a range of services such as e-government, jobs and employment, health information, and education.