Self-Serve Internet Access

[Galadriel Chilton]

We are considering moving from a librarian regulated sign-up for our 22
public Internet access computers to a totally self-regulated first come,
first serve system.  Instead of signing in, patrons would stand/sit in
line until a machine becomes available.  Signage would be used to
encourage patrons to respect the 1-hour per session time limit; however,
librarians would not supervise patron use.

Our reason for doing so, is that high Internet computer demand has
become a full-time task for at least one of the two reference librarians
on duty (We had over 8,000 Internet users during August).  We would very
much like to move away from "policing" patron Internet use.

Are any other libraries implementing such a patron-regulated model for
Internet access? If so, how is this system working?

Our current usage policy can be found at:
http://www.tcpl.org/internet.html

Thanks for your insights,
Galadriel Chilton & Jen Schlossberg
Electronic Resources Librarians
Tompkins County Public Library
Ithaca, NY