NEW YORK—The New York Public Library is launching the nation’s largest Internet lending program, handing out 10,000 free high-speed hot spots to some of the city’s poorest residents.
The program—which offers the devices for up to a year, about a $1,000 value—seeks to bridge a digital divide in the nation’s largest city, where studies have found nearly 3 million of the 8 million people lack broadband access.
“It is simply unfathomable that in the digital world in which we live, one-third of New Yorkers do not have access to broadband Internet at home, putting them at a serious disadvantage at school, in applying for jobs, and so much more,” said Anthony Marx, president of the New York Public Library.
It is simply unfathomable that in the digital world in which we live, one-third of New Yorkers do not have access to broadband Internet at home...
