ABSTRACT
It depends on where you live. The values of universal access are much older than the present legislative attempts. The whole public library movement, in one sense, was based on providing everyone with access to information and education, regardless of accidents of geographic location. The Carnegie philanthropic projects aided this idea. However, I have to wonder how much progress we really have made toward the ideal of every citizen of this country having equal access to information regardless of where they live or where they may travel. Yes, the percentage of public libraries theoretically providing Web access has been growing. However, simply providing a workstation is only one small step toward providing universal access. A big hurdle may have to be overcome—staff and community attitudes. This was borne out by an experience with library service in the Midwest.
