The MBLC conducted a public library internet bandwidth survey in February of 2019. 214 of 370 libraries provided information about their internet service providers, ran internet speed tests, and provided estimates of staff and patron perceptions with the library's connectivity. Questions were based on the Toward Gigabit Libraries toolkit from Internet2.
Many libraries have multiple circuits: e.g., an automated network circuit, a separate public WiFi circuit, and perhaps another from the city/town. Download speeds were added together to gain a rough sense of the total available bandwidth to the library. These were then compared to the FCC benchmarks (E-rate Modernization Order ¶¶ 34-38) of 100MBPS for libraries in communities under 50,000 in population and 1GBPS for libraries over 50,000.
