Photo by Sydney Cromwell.
Dana Polk holds one of the Wi-Fi hot spot devices that Chelsea Library visitors can now check out.
For Chelsea residents who need Wi-Fi on vacation or even at their home, the Chelsea Public Library has hot spots available to check out at no charge.
Library Director Dana Polk said she first became interested in offering hot spots in February, when North Shelby Library purchased five of them. The hot spots were an immediate hit at North Shelby, and T-Mobile approached Polk with a similar deal.
“Everybody talks about how relevant are libraries going to be? Well, if we don’t embrace the technology, we’re not going to be relevant. So I thought, ‘I’ve got to do it,’” Polk said.
T-Mobile gave Chelsea Library 10 Wi-Fi hot spot devices in September for free, so the library only has to pay the monthly use fee. Normally these devices are $80 each. The library began letting patrons check out the hot spots in October.
Each hot spot can be checked out by library users for one week for free. Up to 10 smartphones, tablets or other devices can connect to the hot spots, which have unlimited data and a battery life of several hours before needing to be recharged.
Polk said patrons must be 19 or older to check out a hot spot, which does have some internet filters built into it. If users keep the hot spots longer than a week, there is a $2 per day overdue fee or $150 if they never return it.
Polk herself has tried out a hot spot while on vacation.
“I sat on the beach and watched the Auburn game on my iPad. It was cool,” she said.
Other library staff and patrons have used the devices for vacations, but Polk said some have checked out hot spots because they don’t have an internet connection at home. She has seen a family check out a hot spot for their child to complete a homework assignment, or one woman who used the library’s hot spot to complete and send important paperwork.
“She came back singing its praises, and she told all her neighbors about it,” Polk said.
Polk expects the Wi-Fi hot spots will become one of the library’s more popular items to check out as more residents hear about them. Though they’re always adding more books to the shelves, Polk said she keeps an eye out for the technology her patrons need.
“As the technology’s made available, I’m looking at it, and I’m considering it, and I’m thinking, ‘OK, is it feasible for us as a library to invest that money to use it?’ Because we’re small, but we have a lot of people,” Polk said.
After installing a people counter in 2015, Polk said the Chelsea Library received about 27,000 visits over the course of a year. Aside from the hot spots, those visitors also have access to Wi-Fi at the library around the clock, on-site laptops, children’s Playaway game tablets and downloadable e-magazines and e-books.
Polk said one additional service she is considering for the library is downloadable online comic books. She watches the major libraries around the state to see what new services they offer and how she can bring them to Chelsea.
“We [have] got to stay up with the big guys,” Polk said. “This [hot spot service] is going to go over great, and if something else comes up that we can offer, we’ll do it.”
The Chelsea Library is at 41 Weldon Drive and open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Tuesday; and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday. Go to chelsealibraryonline.com for more information.