Sally
Beach Fanatic
By Joyce Owen
No need to buy a latte at the local coffee shop to get wireless Internet access, Walton County libraries offer the same service for free and you don?t even need a library card.
The four Walton County branch libraries ? Coastal, Freeport, DeFuniak Springs and Flowersview ? provide Wi-Fi access 24 hours a day seven days a week.
?I observed a couple sitting side-by-side playing solitaire on the computer,? Walton County Library Director Dan Owens said. Computer access is limited to one hour and though he wondered at the time if it was the best use of the computer, it was their choice as to how to spend the time.
?But just then I overheard one ask the other, ?Has your page downloaded yet??
?That?s when I realized we needed high speed Internet,? Owens said.
The Coastal Branch in South Walton was the first to offer the service. The Friends of the Coastal Branch expedited the process by paying the monthly fee, Owens said. The library system pays the access fees for the other branches and the bookmobile.
?While the Coastal branch still has room to expand, we?ve run out of space at the other branches to add additional computer stations,? Owens said. ?Having Wi-Fi allows users to sit in different areas of the library.?
Or outside.
?We leave it on when the library is closed. If someone needs to get to the Internet, they can just drive up and sit in the parking lot,? he said.
There?s a flower garden at the DeFuniak library donated by the garden club that people with a laptop could sit in and still use the Wi-Fi, he said. In fact, someone reported they were at the amphitheater near the Lakeyard and had connected to the signal at the DeFuniak Springs library, Owens said.
Coastal branch librarian Katie Voss said the new service is popular with library patrons, ?I?ve gotten many comments about it.
With the arrival of the winter visitors, she anticipates even more usage of the free service.
No need to buy a latte at the local coffee shop to get wireless Internet access, Walton County libraries offer the same service for free and you don?t even need a library card.
The four Walton County branch libraries ? Coastal, Freeport, DeFuniak Springs and Flowersview ? provide Wi-Fi access 24 hours a day seven days a week.
?I observed a couple sitting side-by-side playing solitaire on the computer,? Walton County Library Director Dan Owens said. Computer access is limited to one hour and though he wondered at the time if it was the best use of the computer, it was their choice as to how to spend the time.
?But just then I overheard one ask the other, ?Has your page downloaded yet??
?That?s when I realized we needed high speed Internet,? Owens said.
The Coastal Branch in South Walton was the first to offer the service. The Friends of the Coastal Branch expedited the process by paying the monthly fee, Owens said. The library system pays the access fees for the other branches and the bookmobile.
?While the Coastal branch still has room to expand, we?ve run out of space at the other branches to add additional computer stations,? Owens said. ?Having Wi-Fi allows users to sit in different areas of the library.?
Or outside.
?We leave it on when the library is closed. If someone needs to get to the Internet, they can just drive up and sit in the parking lot,? he said.
There?s a flower garden at the DeFuniak library donated by the garden club that people with a laptop could sit in and still use the Wi-Fi, he said. In fact, someone reported they were at the amphitheater near the Lakeyard and had connected to the signal at the DeFuniak Springs library, Owens said.
Coastal branch librarian Katie Voss said the new service is popular with library patrons, ?I?ve gotten many comments about it.
With the arrival of the winter visitors, she anticipates even more usage of the free service.