Customers visiting a Santa Clarita Public Library can now enjoy one of the fastest internet speeds available thanks to an upgrade to the internet connection made possible through a grant from the State of California and the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC). The upgrade is part of the CENIC High-speed Broadband in California Public Libraries Project.

The Santa Clarita Public Library branches are now connected to California Research and Education Network (CalREN), a high-capacity 3,800-mile fiber optic network operated by CENIC. The high-speed broadband connection has increased the Santa Clarita Public Library’s internet speed tenfold, from 100 Mbps to 1,000 Mbps (1 Gigabit). The connection services public computers at all branches of the Santa Clarita Public Library, including personal computer devices used by customers.

“This upgrade is going to help our customers immensely. We average around 8,000 hours per month of computer usage across all of our library branches. Our computers are used by our visitors to apply for jobs, conduct school research, find information and connect with the world. It’s crucial that we provide both reliable and high-speed access to information resources our customers need so they can be successful in their goals,” says City Librarian Shannon Vonnegut.

Hardware costs for the project were covered through a grant from the California State Library. The City anticipates to see a cost savings of 93 percent on monthly service when federal discount rates are applied.

More information on the CENIC project is available at cenic.org.

For more information regarding the Santa Clarita Public Library upgrade, please contact City Librarian Shannon Vonnegut at svonnegut@santa-clarita.com, or at (661) 799-6132.