ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 9, 1996 TAG: 9604090086
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: S.D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER
The information superhighway is now toll-free to Roanoke Valley residents with library cards.
The Roanoke County library announced this week that it is providing free Internet access at the headquarters library on Virginia 419 and at the Hollins branch on Peters Creek Road. Salem's public library says it will offer the free service too, possibly by next week.
Roanoke is planning to offer the service, but is waiting for City Council to appropriate the money.
Spencer Watts, library director for Roanoke County, sees the Internet access as just one more resource for the public library.
"With Internet access, it gives us the possibility of going anywhere in the world," he said.
Roanoke County is one of few localities in the state that offer free Internet access, Watts said.
As of now, three terminals are available for access to the World Wide Web at the headquarters, and two terminals at the Hollins branch. Watts hopes the Glenvar and Vinton branches will be able to offer the service by the end of the year. Librarians will be available to assist patrons.
Library cardholders can surf the Web with no time limit, or for up to 30 minutes if others are waiting. However, they cannot access e-mail, download programs or load software onto library computers. Watts said he wants to make sure hackers are not able to get into the library's network.
When the county first looked into free Internet access, Watts said, it was an expensive proposition. The library would have had to contract with an Internet access provider.
But within the past year, the county's information systems department has built its own on-line access to the Web.
The basic service costs the county roughly $4,800 a year, Watts said, and start-up cost was about $15,000. But county libraries will be able to benefit from reference databases through the network as well.
Other county departments also will be able to connect to the Internet via the library's access, Watts said. Salem and Roanoke will take advantage of the county's network, too.
Salem Librarian Janice Augustine is hoping to have one terminal available to the public for Internet use by Monday.
Dennis Pendleton, Roanoke's head of reference services, said Roanoke's free access may not be possible until the city's next fiscal year, which begins in the summer.
Watts said the county's libraries also are working on a home page, on which the library may provide links to certain Web sites and provide listings for others.
Providing free access won't hurt businesses that sell Internet time, Watts said. In fact, he believes the access will spark interest among those who have no experience on the Internet.
"They won't be able to get enough of it at the library," he said.
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