Library System Expands Free Wi-Fi Access to Community Park Using Emergency Connectivity Funds

With an Emergency Connectivity Fund grant, the Dothan Houston County Library System (DHCLS) will create a community Wi-Fi access point and expand the library's Wi-Fi outside of the library facilities for patrons to access while the library is closed. Our intent is to establish a network of internet access points throughout the Westgate Park, a large community park in Dothan.

With this, we would be providing free 24/7 internet access to all residents of Dothan who visit this park.

Against a backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic that has disproportionately ravaged communities and expanded a digital divide that separates the underprivileged members of society (especially the poor, rural, elderly, and the disabled), DHCLS believes that libraries can no longer stand back and watch the digital divide grow at an alarming rate and that we are overdue for honest and radical changes as well as meaningful action to dismantle a broken system.

The planned access point would help alleviate this problem by providing residents with a safe and reliable location to access Wi-Fi and Internet services whether the library or local businesses are open or not. COVID-19 widened a digital divide that libraries have been aware of since the growth of the Internet.

This became evident when, on Monday, March 16, 2020, all branches of the Dothan Houston County Library System (DHCLS) closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and remained closed until Monday, May 18, 2020.

Directed by Governor Kay Ivey, on Wednesday, March 18, 2020, Dothan City Schools and Houston County Schools along with all K-12 public schools in Alabama no longer delivered in-person instruction and all campuses closed. This closure exposed an under-resourced and troubled school system whose challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic are well reported locally.

The Dothan City School System’s official report lists an enrollment of 8,701 students with an additional 275 students enrolled in Head Start. Houston County Schools’ official report lists an enrollment of 6,418 students. The closure of DHCLS, DCS, and Houston County meant that 15,119 students immediately lost access to print educational and digital materials as well as Internet access for two months.

The Westgate Park access point would consist of a base camp location managed by DHCLS, which all client antennas would communicate with. Using TV white space, a portion of the TV broadband spectrum unused since the decline of analog TV in the late 2000s, the client access points would communicate with the base camp.

The base camp location is the only point directly connected to the Internet, simplifying the task of network management. From the planned client location, a network of Wi-Fi access points would route the information to their own individual antenna and communicate that data over the broadband signal to the base camp. This setup is similar to a home or business Wi-Fi network, but with substantially greater range.

The access points range between 400-600 feet, covering the 200 acres of land that Westgate Park occupies. Dothan residents will be able to access internet services from wide regions of Westgate Park. Any ECF funds acquired will fund the Wifi provided by Spectrum. Agency: DOTHAN HOUSTON COUNTY LIBRARY SYSTEM Status: Certified