1.13.2021 Ten Montgomery County Public Libraries Offer Free Outdoor Public Wi-Fi

Montgomery County has leveraged federal COVID-19 funding to install outdoor public Wi-Fi at 10 Public Library (MCPL) locations: Aspen Hill, Davis (N. Bethesda), Gaithersburg, Germantown, Maggie Nightingale (Poolesville),  Marilyn Praisner (Burtonsville), Rockville Memorial, Twinbrook, Wheaton, and White Oak branches; and in front of the Silver Spring Civic Building at Veterans Plaza.

This free service is available 24 hours a day in parking lots adjacent to the library buildings. Additional coverage is provided in grass area behind the Davis branch, in the park from the library to the playground area at Wheaton, and in the Rockville Town Square.  Wi-Fi coverage varies by location.  Customers are advised to follow COVID-19 safety recommendations and are required to adhere to executive orders and Health Officer directives when using the services.

The 10 library branches were chosen by analyzing U.S. Census and MCPL data.  Seven library branches were selected by mapping Census data neighborhoods with lower incomes and households without home internet. The Pew Research Center for Internet & Technology reported that as of 2019, 18 percent of adults with incomes less than $30,000 do not have home internet access, compared to only 2 percent of adults with incomes greater than $75,000, and 85 percent and 86 percent  of Black and Hispanic adults use the internet compared to 92 percent of White adults.  Median per capita income in the Census Block Groups served by the 7 libraries is $35,372 and the population is 27 percent Black and 28 percent Hispanic. Three additional locations (Davis, Rockville and Wheaton Regional) were selected because prior to the pandemic they had greater participation in MCPL small business programs.