A 2019 Internet Hall of Fame inductee, Polly was among the first librarians in the country to facilitate patrons’ Internet access after she convinced the Liverpool, New York, public library to buy an Apple desktop for public use.
In a recent video interview, Polly pointed out that many of the pressing issues facing contemporary Internet users were also concerns raised in the early days of commercial Internet access.
“A lot of these things were predicted and we were warned about them,” she said. “Things like loss of privacy and malevolence and malware. We were warned, but a lot of us put on our rose-colored glasses, said ‘Oh well’ and went chasing waterfalls anyway.”
