On Tuesday, May 17, the Arlington County Board honored the founders of ARPANet, which we now see as the beginning of the internet and the World Wide Web. As described on the County NewsRoom:
These scientists [who are being honored] worked, at the time, in Arlington, for ARPA — the Advanced Research Projects Agency. ARPA later became DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Their work has had a profound effect on how we work and how we conduct our private lives.
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| Library staff demonstrated the Internet for Senator Robb, Rep. Moran and County Board Vice Chairwoman Ellen Bozman in 1995 |
But did you know that Arlington Public Library was also at the forefront of implementing the internet in Arlington County? In August of 1995, with the help of a LibraryLINK grant, we installed our first internet terminals at Central – becoming the 3rd public library in Virginia to offer free Internet. According to Navigating the Internet at Arlington Central Library (pdf):
Arlington was one of eight libraries chosen to receive grants from MCI in the first year of their LibraryLINK community initiative to bring the information superhighway to “Main Street, USA.” Grant money was used to install two public and one reference Internet workstation at Central Library for one year.
And in 1997, Arlington County’s ‘new and improved’ website was launched (with explanation and help from Librarian Elizabeth Fry):