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Library embraces its inner egghead

The new Largo library facility will offer myriad high-tech services: Wi-Fi access, self- checkout, downloadable audiobooks and more.

By SHANNON TAN
Published July 7, 2005

LARGO - Patrons of the new Largo Public Library will get free Wi-Fi access throughout the building, self-checkout machines and do-it-yourself reservations for public computer time.

Residents asked for more technology in the new $21-million building at 120 Central Park Drive. So when the library opens July 31, there will be more than 100 computers for public use, up from 22 in the old facility.

Patrons with laptops equipped with a wireless card can use radio waves to connect to the Internet in the building, cafe and courtyard. The network will not be encrypted, because individual computers have to be configured to do so, said Harold Schomaker, Largo's IT manager. "We don't want to put all these barriers in place that will stop them from using it," he said.

Instead, there will be fire walls preventing people from overpowering the library's network from elsewhere on the Internet. Patrons can register using their library card to get a password to log on, and those who don't register may be allowed to use the network by agreeing to certain terms and conditions, such as avoiding inappropriate Web sites.

The library will not track Web sites visited by patrons, but will monitor the sites to "restrict inappropriate use," Schomaker said.

The use of wireless fidelity, or Wi-Fi, has spread rapidly across the country. Dunedin will soon go completely Wi-Fi throughout the city. Largo commissioners on Tuesday approved the purchase of wireless technology from TechNet Solutions for $31,275.70.

"It seems like Wi-Fi has just exploded," said Kent Pingel, author of a blog called the Wi-Fi Guy.

The rest of the new Largo Public Library is equally high-tech.

Radio frequency identification, or RFID, tags will replace the traditional bar codes in books, allowing patrons to use self-checkout systems. There will be one self-checkout machine in the children's section, and three in the adult section. The book drop also has a RFID system that will automatically check in books.

Instead of signing in with a staff member to use public computers, patrons can sign up for computer time at a station equipped with software that will tell them which computer is available. They can also pay for printouts at several "central print release" stations that accept coins.

And anyone will be able to download audiobooks for free from the library's Web site to a MP3 player or burn it on a CD. Largo is paying $4,000 for several hundred titles, in a partnership with the Tampa Bay Library Consortium.

"It's basically like books on tape," said Casey McPhee, assistant library director. Shannon Tan can be reached at shtan@sptimes.com or 445-4174.

[Last modified July 7, 2005, 01:01:15]