Upgrades aim to increase library internet speed

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Libraries throughout South Carolina are getting help increasing their internet bandwidth to at least 100 megabits per second.

The South Carolina Educational Rate Consortium program, managed by the S.C. Department of Administration, includes a K-12 Technology Initiative to increase bandwidth at schools and libraries statewide. The E-Rate Program was instituted under the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to help expand connectivity of internet and telecommunications for libraries and schools. The program provides discounts of 20% to 90% of the cost of services, depending on the needs of the communities served.

In July, state libraries began upgrading to higher speeds as an E-Rate program consortium negotiated a contract with a new broadband service provider, said Ellen Dunn, public information coordinator for the South Carolina State Library in Columbia, which administers the program.

Some libraries had the technology in place to immediately provide faster bandwidth speeds. Others, mostly in rural areas, are still working to upgrade their technology, Dunn said.

“It used to be if you went to your public library and you tried to get on the internet, you may experience really slow internet speed,” she said. “But now that the E-Rate Consortium has worked to renegotiate this contract, so that we can get increased bandwidth at no extra cost to the libraries, they’re able to jump up and provide faster internet speed to members of the public who come to work at their local library.”

Some S.C. libraries have had internet bandwidth as low as 20 to 40 Mbps, said Dunn, who said that while it may take some time to get all libraries up to speed, that goal will be reached.

Dunn said libraries offer databases and digital materials that users may not be able to access elsewhere. She said part of the South Carolina State Library’s mission is to help underserved communities access information and resources.

“We have to be able to adapt with the times and move with technology so we can always offer things to our patrons,” she said. “It is very important that we continue to change with the times. Otherwise the patrons will stop coming to the library because it doesn’t have the resources that they need, so we’re constantly evolving.”