Blue Earth Community Library director Eva Gaydon holds one of the new Internet hot spots which can be borrowed at county libraries.

As society becomes enmeshed within the online world, it is increasingly difficult to remain unplugged.

Enter hot spots: mobile wireless access points which are created either by a hardwire device, or a smartphone feature sharing the phone’s cellular data.

In other words, a portable hot spot enables a person to connect their device to the Internet no matter where they are, or whether they have their own broadband Internet subscription.

This is huge, particularly in a post-COVID society.

The pandemic trapped droves of people at home. Adults worked online. Children schooled online.

Those who did not have access to the Internet faced unprecedented challenges as more daily tasks shifted to the online world, and public facilities offering free Wifi, such as libraries and schools, shut their doors.

“You can’t do modern life without the Internet,” admits Ann Hokanson, executive director of Traverse des Sioux (TdS) Regional Library System. “In the meanwhile, hot spots are sometimes the answer.” 

Upon identifying a regional need for Internet access during the pandemic, TdS, which serves the Region Nine area of Minnesota, considered methods of securing hot spots to address that need.

TdS received funding from the Emergency Connectivity Fund, a federal program which provides funding for schools and libraries to purchase electronic devices.

“We were allocated $580,000,” Hokanson explains. “We spend the dollars, we report the amount to the agency, and then they reimburse us.” 

TdS knew hot spots would serve Minnesota’s Region Nine well, but was unsure how many would be needed.

“The dollars have to be sent out by the end of June, or returned,” Hokanson says. “We had to just take a guess at what the need would be. There wasn’t time to do a big needs assessment.” 

TdS bought hot spots in batches of 100 or 200, ultimately distributing 500 to public libraries in Region Nine. The hot spots are distributed according to area need.

“Whichever library got their hot spots checked out the fastest we gave more to,” Hokanson explains.

Ensuring hot spots are allocated to areas where they will be used is a matter of importance.

“A hot spot is like a cell service plan,” Hokanson says. “You pay per month. There is a dollar value associated with every day.” 

A hot spot which languishes on a library shelf, unused, appropriates the same amount of funds as a hot spot which is out servicing the community. Therefore, it is important to ensure as many hot spots are in active use as possible.

The general consensus seems to be that hot spots are being used, albeit at different levels depending upon the community.

Nicole Krienke, director of the Muir Public Library in Winnebago, shares the library received 15 TdS-owned long-term hot spots, which patrons may check out for three months, and which are all checked out at this time.

Krienke says those using the hot spots represent a wide demographic range. “When we hand out hot spots, it’s 18-year-olds to seniors,” Krienke says. “Everyone, all demographics.” 

Betsy Bushlack, director of the Wells Public Library, shares similar observations.

The Wells Public Library received eight long-term hot spots through the TdS grant, all of which are currently checked out.

“I feel like people are definitely benefiting from hot spots,” Bushlack says.

She agrees with Krienke that the people utilizing the hot spots are wide-ranging. “All different types of people come in to use those (hot spots),” she says.

Eva Gaydon, director of the Blue Earth Community Library, reported a slightly different observation, however.

“We have five (hot spots) sitting up on the counter now,” Gaydon says. “There are usually some available. There are people that need them, and I’m glad we have it for them. But it’s not everybody. I’ve got three checked out right now.” 

Blue Earth’s lower usage rate reflects a theory espoused by Hokanson.

“It’s quite interesting to see which communities have higher demands than others,” Hokanson notes. “Rural areas have more difficult coverage.”

Bushlack confirms as much regarding Wells residents’ Internet access. “Around here, if you don’t live in town, you don’t have good Internet, or you don’t have any at all,” she says.

Faribault County, which comprises a significant number of rural areas, does indeed reflect lower connectivity than the national average.

While 82.7 percent of United States households possessed a broadband Internet subscription between 2015 and 2019, only 76.1 percent of Faribault County households were connected during the same timeframe.

Another study conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2021 found that nationwide, 72 percent of rural Americans report having a broadband Internet connection at home.

Additionally, Krienke notes even rural residents who do have Internet access may still face barriers.

“People may have access at home, but it can be spotty, unreliable, and slow,” Krienke says.

This may explain why areas such as Winnebago and Wells are finding that hot spots are a hit, while they are distributed more slowly in larger communities such as Blue Earth.

Libraries in rural areas are finding hot spots so useful, in fact, that some are seeking funds to purchase more.

Krienke received a $5,000 grant from the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) in August of 2020, which she has put toward the acquisition of five hot spots, and which Muir Public Library will have for a total of two years. The hot spots are available for a short-term check out period of three weeks.

“They are very popular, and we usually have a waiting list,” Krienke says.

Bushlack also successfully applied for a grant to receive two additional hot spots and two Chromebooks. The grant, through the American Library Association, is titled Libraries Transforming Communities: Focus on Small and Rural Libraries Initiative.

“We got five with CARES (emergency relief fund) money, which are for 10-day check out,” Bushlack adds.

This is not to say that Internet access is not a vital resource in any and every community, regardless of its size and location.

Hokanson shares that though TdS was the only regional system which applied for funding for hot spots, individual libraries in Rochester and the Twin Cities pursued the funding as well.

Additionally, all three library directors agreed unanimously regarding the importance of Internet access in this day and age.

“There are people who park outside the library just to use the Internet, and I’m happy with that,” Gaydon says. “There is a need, and we should be trying to fill it.” 

Though Gaydon notes lower hot spot usage in Blue Earth, and reports that 90 percent of Blue Earth residents are connected to the Internet, she also does not assume their coverage is adequate.

“Connectivity doesn’t necessarily mean great,” Gaydon says. “That could be a reason people come in; they have Internet, but they don’t have good service.” 

Bushlack identifies significant challenges which unconnected, or even poorly connected individuals face.

“You can’t even apply for a job without going online,” she says. “Everything is online. Especially during COVID. Banks were closed, so banking was online, everything with schooling had to be done online. It’s important for everyone to be able to get their work done.” 

Despite this, Gaydon points out tough realities which bar some households from affording Internet access.

“It’s $100, and that’s a lot,” she notes. “In the scheme of things, it can be, ‘Do I buy groceries, or do I buy Internet?'”

Unfortunately, hot spots do not necessarily represent a permanent solution to the Internet access shortage.

For example, Hokanson explains federal funds will only cover the monthly charge required to keep the loaned hot spots connected through the end of June next year.

“Cinderella turns back into a pumpkin then, and we just own the hot spots,” she says. However, Hokanson is interested in applying for additional funds if they become available in the future.

Due to this reality, nonetheless, hot spots may be more of a bandaid than a solution.

“Companies need to move in and start serving rural areas,” Krienke suggests.

Bushlack has heard an even bigger solution suggested.

“This is not my own original thought, but in a dream world, I could see the city paying for everyone’s Internet in town,” she says. “It’s not possible anytime soon, but to have the city pay for it, so every individual doesn’t have to, that would be fabulous.” 

The idea exists, even if it has not taken root yet.

A 2020 Pew Research Center survey researched nationwide opinion regarding whether the government had a responsibility to ensure all Americans had a high-speed Internet connection at home during the COVID outbreak.

Results showed 29 percent of rural adults agreed that this is the case, while 50 percent of urban residents and 35 percent of suburbanites agreed. Not a clear consensus, but also not an absolute rejection.

Perhaps most clear is the fact that the rapid technological evolution is creating societal necessities which have never existed before.

As Krienke concludes, “I consider (Internet) a necessity, not a luxury now.”