New York City Schools partners with the city’s three library systems, Google, and Sprint to bring free, year-long Wi-Fi service to households without it.
NYPL, CPL Wi-Fi Lending Pilots Progressing | ALA Annual 2015
Early results from two Knight News Challenge award-funded pilot programs indicate that mobile hotspot lending could help bridge the digital divide in city neighborhoods where broadband adoption is low, and home Internet subscriptions are considered a luxury. A capacity crowd was on hand to hear Luke Swarthout, director of adult education services for the New York Public Library (NYPL) and Michelle Frisque, chief of technology content and innovation for Chicago Public Library (CPL) discuss NYPL’s “Check Out the Internet” and CPL’s “Internet to Go” services during their “A Tale of Two Cities: NYPL and CPL Wi-Fi Lending Projects” presentation.
CPL, NYPL WiFi Hotspot Lending Programs Funded by Knight Foundation Grants
In an effort to address the lack of broadband access among low-income residents, the Chicago Public Library (CPL), and New York Public Library (NYPL) on June 23 announced new programs that will allow patrons to check out and take home wifi hotspots. NYPL’s “Check Out the Internet,” and CPL’s “Internet to Go” programs are made possible, in part, by grants awarded this week by the Knight News Challenge, a competition developed by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation in partnership with the Ford Foundation and Mozilla, to fund and promote projects committed to making the Internet an open, equitable platform.
Hachette to Sell Frontlist Ebook Titles to Libraries
Hachette Book Group today announced that it will once again sell its frontlist ebook titles to libraries, beginning on May 8. Hachette’s entire catalog of 5,000 ebooks will now be available through OverDrive, Baker & Taylor’s Axis 360 platform, and the 3M Cloud Library, under a pricing and licensing model similar to the one employed by Random House.
NYPL, Queens Libraries Comment on Simon & Schuster Ebook Lending Deal
Lynda.com, NYPL Explore New Library-wide Access Model
Patrons visiting the New York Public Library’s Science, Industry and Business Library (SIBL) now have free access to the entire catalog of more than 1,500 instructional online training videos offered by Lynda.com, thanks to a new partnership announced last week. For the first time, the service will be deployed in a public library setting across a range of IP addresses, allowing SIBL to offer Lynda.com access on more than 60 workstations throughout the building, without requiring any login information.
Penguin Ebook Pilot Test Expands Beyond NYC
The 3M Cloud Library, the New York Public Library (NYPL), the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL), and publisher Penguin Books have officially launched a pilot program that will allow patrons of the two systems to check out a selection of Penguin ebook titles six months after initial publication. NYPL will also offer additional titles from the 3M cloud library, the company said in an announcement today.
NYPL Crowdsources Interpretations of John Cage
This month, the New York Public Library (NYPL) is celebrating the centennial of Cage’s birthday with a live event on September 27 and the publication of John Cage’s Prepared Piano, a new edition of their Point iBook periodical series. The evening event also offered NYPL an opportunity to highlight the ongoing development of John Cage Unbound: A Living Archive, a new website that showcases the John Cage manuscript collection housed at NYPL’s Library for the Performing Arts, as well as videos in which professional musicians, students, and others explain how they prepare and perform works by Cage.