NFC Partners with Suwannee River Regional Library System to Boost Student WiFi Access

MADISON, FL (December 2, 2020) - North Florida College (NFC) students now have improved access to WiFi closer to home thanks to a partnership between NFC and the Suwannee River Regional Library System (SRRLS).

A discussion started due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the increase in remote learning prompted NFC’s Director of Information Technology Nick Skipper to reach out and coordinate a WiFi boost to four of the SRRLS’s nine library locations.

A multi-county library system, the SRRLS is based in Live Oak with branches in Branford, Dowling Park, Greenville, Jasper, Jennings, Lee, Madison and White Springs. The SRRLS already offered free wireless internet access at all nine library locations, with or without a registered library card, in the libraries’ parking areas. But with a higher demand for WiFi access expected by NFC students throughout the district, Skipper and NFC staff traveled to the library locations in Hamilton, Madison and Suwannee counties where NFC students may opt to utilize the SRRLS’s free WiFi.

They identified four libraries in the system that could use a boost to assist NFC students seeking a strong wireless connection to complete classwork.

NFC worked with Amber Waters, Library Assistant Systems Coordinator for the SRRLS, to add additional WiFi options at the Branford, Jasper, Jennings and White Springs library locations. In addition to the benefit of the SRRLS’s free WiFi offerings, NFC students can now access NFC WiFi, with a provided NFC password, at these four locations.

The NFC Library, located on the NFC campus in Madison, has also helped boost WiFi access for students. In November, they started a WiFi hotspot loan program. NFC students can check-out portable, mobile WiFi hotspots for three-week intervals at no cost to the student. Billed as “Free Internet Access to Go” the mobile WiFi loan program is only available to NFC students and limited to available units.

For more information on the Suwannee River Regional Library System visit srrlib.org. For more information on North Florida College, visit nfc.edu.

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