Contact (Media Only): Monica Lewis (202) 727-1186

(Washington, DC) The District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL) has made all libraries within the system wireless-Internet accessible “hot spots,” with the exception of the 150-foot Deanwood Kiosk. Wi-Fi, an abbreviation for wireless fidelity, is a technology that allows any library user with a laptop computer and a wireless Internet card, which supports the Wi-Fi standard, to log on to the World Wide Web. As Wi-Fi hot spots, the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library and 21 branches across the District will be able to provide library users with Internet access beyond the public computers provided at each location. Wi-Fi access at the DC Public Library is free of charge to all customers.

“The DC Public Library has entered the 21st century in terms of technology and is now able to offer a much-needed service to our customers, thus making their time in our libraries even richer,” said newly appointed Chief Librarian Ginnie Cooper. “We want to draw more people into our libraries. Giving people what they want, which includes alternative ways to access information, helping to foster their desire to learn and grow and that’s what libraries are about.”

DCPL launched the first Wi-Fi access point available within the system at the Georgetown Neighborhood Library in May 2006 as a pilot program. The service was well received by local-area residents and by library patrons who now visit the library with their laptops. As the service was installed gradually at branches around the library system, posters and brochures were displayed informing library users they were now in a “hot spot.” Since going live with Wi-Fi, laptop users have been spotted in libraries across the city.

The District’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) and the DC Public Library’s Information and Telecommunications Office worked jointly to install Wi-Fi throughout the system. The work was completed ahead of the scheduled September 30, 2006 deadline. The Deanwood Kiosk currently has no broadband line, and therefore remains without Wi-Fi. The Kiosk will be upgraded in several months and will be outfitted with the technology. 

The brochure How-To Guide: Using Wi-Fi at the DC Public Library is available in branch libraries across the District.