 Good morning everyone. Thank you so much for coming today. My name is Mania shore and I am the Fort Worth library director Today is a very exciting day for us here at the Fort Worth library because beginning this morning we will be offering a new service to the citizens of Fort Worth and Celebrating the freedom and independence that in-home internet access can provide to the people that live in our community First of all, I'm grateful to city council members Gina Bivens and Carlos Flores for joining us today as well as supporters from our library advisory board the Fort Worth Public Library Foundation and the friends of the Fort Worth Public Library Here in Fort Worth We are the 15th largest city in the United States and our neighborhoods are growing and here in the library We are striving to find new and innovative ways to provide exceptional customer experiences that meet this demand as Of today Fort Worth residents can check out for free a mobile hot spot That will bring internet access to their homes. They can connect up to 10 devices We are Offering it here at Eastbury as well as Seminary south in district 9 at our north side branch in council member Flores district and Here in district 5 not only at Eastbury, but also at the Cavill outreach opportunity library I want to thank the friends of the Fort Worth public library for their financial support of this program They are the only reason we are able to offer this today The guidance from the library advisory board the dedicated library staff who put all of this together and the Collaborative spirit in other city departments. That's why we're able to make this service available today We've chosen these four branches because they force they serve four different neighborhoods that have individuals Families and businesses that don't always have easy access to the internet I would like to introduce Gina Bivens to say a few words How's everybody doing? I'm always too short to be behind a microphone But I don't know I see a lot of library tags I'm gonna be talking to staffers volunteers and any customers that are here. So all you customers on the computer here I got something to tell you We know that not everybody has access to the internet when they really really want it And so it's really up to you to help spread the word you being library worker You being bunny as you always have been the cheerleader for the library and just anyone It's important that we bridge this digital divide I was taking a look at the FCC's website earlier this morning and even Washington is forcing us to get broadband out quicker It's imposing that on the different utility companies And so I would ask you to please please please tell your neighbors because you don't know what happens in somebody's house You know your neighbor may have a need for this kind of service I would ask you to tell people at your church if you go to church I didn't go to church Sunday a lot of folks know that so watch me on Facebook but you you've got to tell people about this and that creates the demand for more and So library workers you may be the cheerleaders that makes this happen And what I would submit to you is if you're able to convince people to use the library more and more and more And we know that we have a lot of folk who come to this branch But the idea that we can solve a problem in a household is something that I commend Manufar Manufar the whole staff because there is a definite need and too often people don't want to express What their needs are and so miss Lane tell your mom to tell all her Facebook friends that she can go to the north side and here And Seminary South you really have to do this work as a missionary and too often those of us at City Hall believe people really know What we're doing because we're so busy doing it, but that's not always the case And so there's a guy I sit next to at every council meeting and I'm either poking him or He's poking me or we're talking about how we're going to vote on something And I've just been so very impressed with one of the newest members of the council And I want you to welcome Carlos Flores who came from the north side To southeast Fort Worth and we'll get you home safely. I promise Come on up here and say something Thank you so much Gina for that wonderful Introduction my name is Carlos Flores and I present District 2 here in the city of Fort Worth And I'm really excited to be here at this launch This is a combined launch for this service And I've already heard that at least one person is here because the demand is so high at the north side The weight is not as bad here. So that's great Again, what does that indicate it up? There is a need We are addressing a need that is prevalent in our communities Gina and I have Components in our district where we have Families that don't have ready access to the internet now That's something we all tend to take for granted, but I read an article just a few days ago sir Timothy Barron's Lee who is a engineer and computer scientist who invented the internet Not Al Gore Okay, he invented the internet and he did it and when he did it he released the source code Why he wanted it to be accessible to everyone? He saw it as a tool to connect us all to make information readily available And he lamented recently that that has not happened That that information is becoming centralized so the control is tightening So an effort like this Makes that connection more possible and more readily available To those communities in our districts and around the city not just Gina nice district To have that opportunity to give people that connection that we all take for granted because what comes with that? economic opportunity and Educational opportunities which are very important to us all so I'm very excited that this is going very well Splendidly I want to give credit where credit is due when you're sure and her staff had made it possible That we're all here today and these small devices will bring a wealth of connectivity and opportunity You know to our districts and to our residents and like Gina said we're in city council We try to be as on top of issues that come up But sometimes we're not aware of all these issues. That's why we rely on our staff To communicate what needs are there and then we as council members try to be as responsive as possible So I'm very happy to be in collaboration with the library staff on this with Gina you know my fellow council person and Let's hope that this catches on and I think it will There'll be excellent demand for it and a lot of interest so thanks to everybody involved Thanks for showing up here and let's get the show started Thank you as of yesterday there were 66 holds on 80 devices So we already know how popular this is going to be and we're already thinking about the next steps for this As of right now about a quarter of the country has no access to the internet in their homes So I am thrilled that the fort worth library is taking steps to offer it to our community. So without further ado We are going to check items out and Council member of Bivens in Flores. She's pointing at me, but I don't know what the pointing means Yeah, so if you'll join me over here, we're gonna ceremonially check out our our first device I'm Gina Bivens. Nice to meet you and this is Carlos Flores. You're good to meet you. Oh, you're on the north side No, actually I live down. I live in Okay, well then that makes you all of our I really appreciate y'all the city council doing this and I really appreciate the library staff here that initiate It's great. I'm so glad I heard about this through a friend. He was taking computer class down at the central library I said you You're the first one We'll scan that right under here. Okay. What's the data cap on it? You know, um, it's there's no data cap It does slow down once it reaches, you know, this 4g It's 4g and then, you know, once it goes to 3g 3g if it says it would not that technical We're just good people. Okay. We're going to connect you and not other friends. Okay. Thank you so much I appreciate it. Good to meet you. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. Thank you for the work that you do. Yes, sir You