LA County libraries forced to end digital lending services after FCC decision

A recent decision by the Federal Communications Commission to end assistance meant to expand Wi-Fi access in communities during the pandemic lockdown will force L.A. County libraries to end their digital lending services.

The Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday voted to end E-Rate discounts to libraries and schools for hotspot lending and school bus Wi-Fi, saying the initiatives “exceeded” or were “inconsistent” with the commission's authority.

The FCC’s decision already is having direct effects on local libraries.

“Due to the FCC’s recent vote to end E-Rate support for library hotspot lending, L.A. County Library will begin winding down its digital lending services,” Karol Sarkisyan, marketing manager at L.A. County Library, told LAist. “Continuing these services would cost the library approximately $40,500 per month — an expense the library’s current budget cannot absorb.”

Remaining American Rescue Plan funds will allow the L.A. County Library to continue laptop lending through January and hotspot lending through March 2026. Free Wi-Fi also will continue to be offered inside and within 25 feet of library locations.

A Los Angeles Unified spokesperson told LAist the district doesn't receive funds for bus Wi-Fi, but it does expect between 60,000 to 70,000 student to be affected by the loss of hotspot lending.

"The anticipated loss to Los Angeles Unified from the Hotspot Lending Program is approximately $10-12 million," the spokesperson said in a statement. "The annual loss is $622,000."

A 2023 study found that about 3.5 million Californians don’t have access to quality internet. But Sam Helmick, president of the American Library Association, said access to the internet is essential to life’s daily infrastructure.

“E-Rate was a way to support the fact that broadband is not as prolific in the United States as it is in other first-world countries,” Helmick said. “This was a way of mitigating that gap so that Americans could connect with the world around them, which is increasingly online.”

During the pandemic, the FCC approved measures to support students’ connectivity as schools pivoted to online learning. When schools opened up again, the FCC kept those programs in place, even expanding them to get more households connected.

But FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in a statement that E-Rate funding is supposed to be used to improve access in classrooms and libraries, not outside of campuses.

“A school bus is neither. We cannot simply reinterpret ‘classrooms’ to mean any place where learning might occur,” Carr stated. “Moreover, giving kids unrestricted access to the internet while riding the school bus is bad policy.”

FCC Commissioner Anna M. Gomez, the one dissenting vote on the item, said broadband is the backbone of opportunity. Without these services, vulnerable students will be left behind, she added.

“Let me be clear, these decisions benefit no one,” Gomez said in a statement. “It will, however, make it harder for students to learn, harder for libraries to serve their community and harder for us to close the digital divide.”