The increasing popularity of distance education over the past decade, combined with instant access to information online, caused many to wonder if libraries are becoming obsolete. However, libraries not only survived the dramatic impact of the internet and mobile technology, but also embraced and integrated it into their services. By incorporating groundbreaking technological and sociological advances, yet also remembering tradition, librarians are bestowed with the important duty of being the gateway and guides into the world of education and intellectual integration of all classes, races, and genders in our very diverse society. A study conducted by Pew Research Center in 2013 found that most people strongly value the role of public libraries …show more content…
Worldwide people are changing their habits to find WiFi spots to join the crowd at coffee shops internet cafes and swarm to retailers, shops, and restaurants that offer free WiFi service. Once again there is a return to paying to communicate like the old home phones did prior. Not only does it costs money to talk on the phone but your data plan costs as well. For many teens from low income households, internet access via mobile phones offer a means of narrowing the digital divide, but it’s very costly. Brown et al. (2011) asks us to consider the paradoxical nature of the fact that teens from lower income families are paying more to access an inferior version of the Web. The majority of young lower income adults who pay for some or all of the cost of their cell phone rely on the internet capability of their cell phone more than those who have home based internet. Furthermore the internet is a place not only for social networking for teens but a gateway where education, information and cultural and social awareness come …show more content…
WiFi lending programs will not only benefit adults and seniors who are living in poverty, research shows people of all types rely on access to computers and internet lines at public libraries. These findings signal this is a moment when federal, state, and local governments should invest more, not less, in the computing capacity of the nation’s libraries to help advance a wide range of policy goals (Becker et al. (2010). WiFi loans may also be combined with loans for other mobile devices like eReaders, Netbooks, and Chromebooks, which many libraries have already initiated, this service will ensure that all library users will always have quick access to the library catalog wherever they are, and whenever they need it. This type of program will not only benefit the libraries that adopt it, but also positively impact the communities they