DALTON, Mass. — The library trustees earlier this week voted for faster, better and more stable internet for patrons by upgrading its plan and its routers.

 

The library's primary provider Crocker, through CW Mars (the Central and Western Massachusetts Automated Resource Sharing consortium), will have the the new routers hooked up by Oct. 1. 

 

"The internet is an important service for the library," Treasurer Max Ehrlich said. 

 

Interim Library Director Kimberly Gwilt informed the trustees that the library has been having ongoing issues with its internet, especially since it updated its computers in the spring. 

 

She reached out to Crocker and was told that the internet is slow during the day because the computers need to stay on overnight to update. 

 

But that's a conundrum because with the current plan, the computers aren't being kept on because they disconnect overnight from the internet — because of the slow plan. 

 

The library pays $344 a year for its current plan. 

 

Crocker charges $895 a year but the library gets a discount of $554, which is covered by a grant through CW Mars. So it pays $344 a year plus $23 a month for a secondary internet service through Charter Communications for a total of $620. 

 

Since the library already paid for its annual fee this year, Crocker will give it credit from Oct. 1 to June 30 so the updated internet will only cost an additional $500 this year. 

 

Next year, however, the library will have to pay the total amount of $955 because the grant money for fiscal 2025 has already been designated to other libraries. 

 

CW Mars will include Dalton in the grant application round for FY26 so will only have to pay $599. 

 

In other news, the library has ordered a replacement return bin because the current one is rusted and was having problems with moisture. The new bins $4,648.19 with shipping. This is one of the cheapest options.

 

The replacement should arrive by mid-October. The library will be shifting the position of the replacement so that it is flat on the ground and then up against the ramp. 

 

The current location of the bin is not a good place because it was experiencing a lot of ice build up in the winter.