Laid-off and offline

Each weekday morning, Teresa Casey goes to Worksource, the state-funded employment center at North Seattle Community College, and waits her turn to use a computer.

“We’re here early in the morning so we usually only have to wait 15 or 20 minutes,” she said.

Casey has been unemployed since November and is looking for a job in the healthcare industry. But first, she needs Internet access.

“Most of the applications are all online,” she said.

The number of people using public computers at Worksource and local libraries has spiked dramatically in recent months, demonstrating that many local job-seekers are still on the wrong side of the digital divide.

Access gap “hasn't been closed”

With all the technology in the Puget Sound area, “one would think we’re certainly going to reach a saturation point of affordable access,” said Chance Hunt, assistant director of library services for The Seattle Public Library.

“The gap clearly hasn't been closed yet.”

According to a survey by The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, 55 percent of adults have broadband at home. Those who don’t tend to be older, poorer, and less educated. Offline Americans are overwhelmingly over age 70, have less than a high school education, and speak a language other than English.

Before the recession, poorer people comprised the bulk of the Seattle Public Library system’s users, Hunt said. The economy has changed that.

The typical patron these days is “people who have canceled Netflix, maybe canceled their Internet access,” he said.

Rush hour at the library

At the Central Library, the rush for computers begins when the library opens at 10 a.m. Shift change comes at 11:30 a.m., when the early birds have used up their time for the day. SPL allots 90 minutes per day to cardholders, who can reserve a computer online up to seven days in advance.

A security guard keeps an eye out for people who stay in their seats for more than 90 minutes. He said some people attempt to extend their time by logging in with peoples’ library card numbers.

There’s no waiting for those with laptops. The library system offers free wireless all the time, plus computers for public use scattered throughout its 27 locations.

 “Even with what we have,” Hunt said, “it’s not enough.”

That’s where InterConnection comes in. The Wallingford nonprofit runs a program in which volunteers earn a free computer in exchange for thirty hours spent recycling donated computers.

Will work for hardware and software

“There’s been a big uptick in need in the last few months,” said Charles Brennick, InterConnection’s founder and director. The organization needs more donated computers in order to meet increased demand.

“We are on the brink out running out of computers,” Brennick said.

The required volunteer orientation is held twice a week and can accommodate twenty people.

“It used to be classes were half-full and now we’re booked out a month,” Brennick said.
 
InterConnection also sells refurbished computers.

Its $135 computer with software deal has become so popular that Brennick added computers at two other price points; $100 and $75.

All are loaded with third-party software that allows the user to connect to free dial-up. The store sells a couple of these computers a day, Brennick said.

Anyone could get a computer for free, but not everyone who needs a computer has time to volunteer, Brennick said.