The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on July 18 voted to allow libraries and schools to use funding from the federal E-rate program to purchase Wi-Fi hotspots for lending. A component of FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel’s Learn Without Limits proposal—which was announced at the American Library Association’s (ALA) 2023 Annual Conference in Chicago—integration of hotspots into the program was aimed at responding to increasing connectivity needs and modernizing the E-rate program.

Prior to the vote, Rosenworcel issued a statement saying “Today we have a choice. We can go back to those days [during the height of the COVID–19 pandemic] when people sat in parking lots to get a signal to get online and students struggling with the Homework Gap hung around fast food places just to get the internet access they needed do their schoolwork. Or we can go forward and build a digital future that works for everyone.”

She continued: “The Federal Communications Commission has been a long-time champion of libraries and schools. We see clearly the role they play in our digital future. After all, for more than two decades, we have supported the E-Rate program. It is a quiet powerhouse responsible for providing schools and libraries in every state with support for communications. Yet despite E-Rate’s overwhelming success connecting schools and libraries, too often that connectivity ends at the edge of the building. The time has come to modernize this program and support students and library patrons wherever they are.”

The program did face Republican opposition. Last year, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-TX) sent a letter to newly sworn-in FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez urging her to oppose the plan. Following last Thursday’s vote, McMorris Rodgers released a statement arguing that making hotspots available “will result in taxpayer dollars subsidizing children’s unsupervised internet access while failing to improve learning outcomes for children.”

But organizations including ALA have enthusiastically supported the program. Following the vote, ALA President Cindy Hohl stated in an announcement, “Until everyone has an affordable home internet connection, hotspots are a promising alternative in most communities—and America’s libraries have proven success in lending them. Libraries are the go-to place for millions of people who need a connection to the internet and the technology to use it. Library hotspot lending programs bridge digital divides, closing the homework gap by equipping students to complete assignments and communicate with teachers, and enabling everyone—job seekers, adult learners, and families—to connect with community services.”

The ALA announcement noted that library hotspot lending is a trend that was “vastly accelerated by the pandemic” and that more than $248 million in federal grants from the FCC’s Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) had enabled libraries to help patrons and students with broadband access via hotspots during the past three years. According to the Public Library Association’s 2023 Public Library Technology Survey published earlier this month, 46.9 percent of public libraries offer hotspots for checkout—an increase of 14.6 percent since 2020. However, the ECF, like several other pandemic programs, was recently sunset. “The ability to use E-rate funding for hotspot lending will ensure libraries can more reliably address still-persistent connectivity gaps in their communities,” ALA’s announcement states.