Why Libraries Lack Internet Capacity

The jist of the report is that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation did research which shows virtually every library in the U.S. has Internet access for patrons. This largesse is thanks to the munificence of Congress, and paid for by every telephone line subscriber with a monthly fee. Internet access at libraries is working great. That's the good news.

The bad news is that too many library patrons want access to the Internet. While over a third of U.S. households have broadband access at home, it is the poor, the immigrants, and the students who depend on the free Internet access at libraries.

It may be politically incorrect to make the following observation, but it needs to be said. Internet access is like any other scarce resource. When the price is free, demand will always exceed supply. In fact, I expect a lot more access time controls in libraries to the point that many will give up waiting around for the free services they cannot obtain.

If so many want Internet access and lack their own computers, what's going to happen? My crystal ball says Internet access demand is still on a hockey-stick-slope ascendancy. I think there's a business opportunity in Internet cafes located neard low-income and immigrant neighborhoods. After all, Internet cafes are used by the majority of users in rest-of-world places like China. For less than $5 an hour -- and there are few legal activities in the U.S. that cost less than $5 an hour -- Internet cafes can fill the demand that libraries cannot.

It will be interesting to see how Internet access supply and demand curves meet, and at what price. I'm not holding my breath expecting more seats in libraries.

-- Peter S. Kastner