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Testimony of David Burdick Arkansas Public Libraries to the United State Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation August 28, 2007 Little Rock, Arkansas
Senator Pryor, Commissioners, I am honored to come before you today and appreciate this opportunity to speak on behalf of the Public Libraries in Arkansas. My name is Dave Burdick; I am the Director of the Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Library System. Pine Bluff is located 45 miles southeast of Little Rock, where the Pine Trees end and the Delta Farm Land begins. We have five public libraries serving a population of nearly 82,000 people. Fifty five percent of our population is Black; twenty percent of the population is below the poverty line. Although nearly all Public Libraries in Arkansas are connected to the Internet, there are many of our small rural libraries where this connection is through dial-up, a dedicated 56k line, a DSL line, or a connection through the local cable television company. Today, Public Libraries are a technological center for many of our citizens who either cannot afford to own a computer, or afford to pay for a high speed connection to the Internet. The Pine Bluff Libraries are typical of many of the Public Libraries in Arkansas. One in three people who walk through our doors use a Public Computer Workstation. The important thing is this…the Public Library is their gateway to the world. We offer this gateway to everyone. Yet in many cases, we are letting our citizens down by not offering a fast and reliable connection to meet their needs. In our two smaller branches, both located in towns of approximately a thousand people, we have a 56k connection for the 3 public workstations and 2 staff workstations. This is not adequate, and unfortunately is typical of small, rural libraries throughout Arkansas. In Pine Bluff the infrastructure is such that many citizens cannot get DSL. Numerous times in the past few years the Internet connection at one of our Libraries has gone down simply because the phone company plugged another new user into antiquated equipment which was not intended to carry the load. Pine Bluff is an impoverished community compared to other major cities in Arkansas, and the payback to the investment in the infrastructure is just not there as it is in other markets. It is like this throughout the rural areas of Arkansas, especially in the Delta Region. It is my belief that the government must step in and offer incentives to help improve the infrastructure in these poor and rural areas. I envision the day when every Public Library throughout the state is connected to the Internet at a speed which will provide all of our citizens access to video conferences, live on-line educational programs, live classroom instruction, and other resources which take a great deal of bandwidth. Internet sessions should be dependent on the current speed of the Internet, and not the speed of the network which connects our citizens to the Internet. When we talk broadband as it pertains to Public Libraries, we should be talking about speeds which can reach 100 Mbps (megabits per second). We need to move away from frame relay, and move towards a long-distance Ethernet or fiber optics network so that our citizens can have quick access to our educational institutions. You are here today because we all recognize that Arkansas is far behind the rest of the country in broadband services. Let’s just be sure that everyone agrees that the Public Libraries of Arkansas must be included in all discussions, any that solutions are found to bring Arkansas and Arkansas Public Libraries up to speed. Thank you. The following is additional Testimony of David Burdick given before the United State Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Field Hearing in Little Rock, Arkansas, August 28th, 2007. Part One – In response to Question asked by Commissioner Copps: Commissioner Michael Copps asked me a question about how many Libraries in Arkansas are still on dial-up Internet Access. The State Library provided me the following information: As of January, 2007, 10 (ten) Libraries were still on dial-up, 137 were on DSL, and 38 were on Cable. It is unknown how many are on dedicated 56k lines. The rest are on T-1 or partial (386) T-1 lines There are 7 Libraries which do not have Internet Access at all. Part Two – In response to comments made in the discussion which followed the Testimony of Wittnesses: In the discussion there were comments made, particularly from James Winningham and Sam Walls, which said something like: “Kids need access at home because Libraries close…”, and “We need to get a computer and Internet Access into the hands of all Arkansans….” As a Librarian, I agree with both statements, but I also know that the Public Library will need to offer services to those who don’t have access. People have had the option to buy books for a few hundred years now. But Public Libraries still circulate millions of books because people either can’t afford, or wish not to spend their money on books. Public Libraries offer all types of services to ANYONE and EVERYONE who walk through the doors. Most Libraries allow people to use the computer workstations regardless of whether or not they live within the Library’s jurisdiction. In Pine Bluff, we allow anyone to use the computers. Two years ago Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast very hard. In Pine Bluff, as in many Public Libraries throughout Arkansas, our Public Computers were used by Katrina Victims to communicate with relatives, find lost loved ones, file FEMA forms, and in at least one case, a Lawyer who came to Pine Bluff, keep a business going. We also set up a wireless network to allow people who had their own laptops access to the Internet. We serve travelers who are passing through. We serve people who just moved into the community. We serve students from the two local colleges. We serve those who come to the Library from the nearby Salvation Army. A large number of people don’t own a computer or don’t have Internet access, but there are those who just want to come to the Library to use our resources. For instance, there is a elderly man who can afford his own computer, who can afford Internet Access, who comes in two or three times every day. I asked him once why he didn’t just buy his own computer, and his reply was, “Dave, I just enjoy coming in and seeing all the friendly people who work at the Library, and the people who are using the computers in the lab. I just enjoy the company…” There will always be those who simply don’t own a computer, or even want to own a computer. It is my belief that Public Libraries will be offering computer services for a long time to those who simply don’t have access any other way.
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