I cannot recall ever using my Wi-Fi enabled laptop in a public library. Reasons: I never take my laptop there because most libraries don't have suitable connections. So,when I am on the road and not in a hotel with high-speed access, I either have to hook up my laptop for dial-up or find a hotspot.

If I were traveling in Maine, though, I'd have another option. Suupported by a $120,000 grant from the Maine Telecommunications Education Access Fund, the Walk In Wireless project has turned dozens of library branches in that state into free, Wi-Fi hotspots.

You have to bring your own laptop. For that very reason, true, we're not looking at feel-good-bridge-the-Digital-Divide stuff here. Still, my overarching reaction is that, OK, if I was (pun alert) a Maine man, and was out and about with my notebook, I'd have another choice. I wouldn't have to subscribe to a fee-based Wi-Fi service. I could just walk into a local library and surf the Web and check my e-mail.

I have an idea to make this service even better, though. Some of the first laptops to have built-in Network Interface Cards for Wi-Fi are starting to age. Library systems ought to have programs where you donate your used Wi-Fi laptop and get a tax credit for the current value of the laptop. Then, the laptop could be configured to work at a library with a hotspot capability funded by a service similar to the Maine Telecommunications Education Access Funds