Multiple connections sometimes slow accessing one table

I have a website that connects multiple times to my db under the same
username and most pages access the same table to read data. I've noticed
that in the event that one page has a slow query involving the central
table, all pages slow down until this slow query is done. I assume this
is because they are all attempting to read the same table at the same
time and they appear to be queueing instead of reading simultaenously.
Is there a way to make each connection read in a separate thread (or at
least lessen the queueing action)? If not, how have others dealt with
this issue -- is it indicative of bad design on my part or is it a
common problem?

I run win2k server, mysql 4.0.24.

Thanks,
Corey

--
MySQL Windows Mailing List
For list archives: http://lists.mysql.com/win32
To unsubscribe: http://lists.mysql.com/win32?unsub=gcdmw-win32@m.gmane.org