A laptop and Wi-Fi lending program may be coming to Phoenix, the Phoenix Library Advisory board said at Wednesday’s meeting.
All Phoenix Public Libraries, with the exception of South Mountain Community Library, are offering only curbside services due to the pandemic, according to the Phoenix Public Library website.
The laptop/Wi-Fi lending program aims to increase public access to its technology that is currently unavailable.
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“During this time, people are looking for housing and what type of services they can receive as it relates to COVID,” said Maria Dominguez, the deputy library director at the Burton Barr Central Library. “This will allow them the opportunity to seek those services.”
The program will act similarly to the curbside services that the libraries currently offer. Customers can search through a catalog posted on the Phoenix Public Library’s website to see what devices are available and at which locations. If one is available, they will be able to submit a request and sign a document agreeing to the program’s regulations. Once approved, the customer can then pick up the device and then return it by the due date, where it will then be disinfected.
Over 400 laptops will be purchased for the program. Only adults 18 years old and over will be able to check out the devices, and only one device can be checked out at a time.
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Several measures will be taken to ensure data security and privacy. All laptops will be erased entirely, and customers will not be able to download software or access login controls. Additionally, the library will partner with a company that will be able to locate and replace the device if it fails to get returned.
“We are doing all our due diligence to make sure that we continue to keep security and privacy as our top priority when we are using any electronic equipment,” Dominguez said.
An area of concern raised during the meeting was how customers will be held responsible for unreturned items. Even if the library can locate an overdue device, “it’s hard to imagine how they’re going to retrieve it,” said Kathleen Ingley, a freelance writer and editor for the Library Advisory Board.
However, Dominguez said that the devices will be supervised carefully, seeing as they are expensive and are considered city property. If needed, police will be available to aid the retrieval process.
Many other libraries, including ones in Peoria and at NAU, have adopted this program, according to Phoenix city librarian Rita Hamilton.
If approved by the Board, the Phoenix Public Library will implement the program in early 2021.
Contact the reporter at omccann1@asu.edu.
