By JA BABAY
Psst. It's no secret that libraries are in need of help now more than ever.
As library services shift from housing traditional print resources to delivering digital materials and social opportunities, we are struggling, like many other agencies, to do more with less - less money, fewer staff, and archaic equipment. How will we ever meet reasonable standards and growing demands in a modern, fast-paced environment? The charge is overwhelming.
Despite the odds, Ross Library is celebrating National Library Week.
We are committed to moving PA Forward - moving forward with offering health, financial, cultural, and basic literacy opportunities - and moving forward with our commitment to helping Clinton County get on its feet with the best in current technology literacy.
We are striving to meet the demand for class sessions, office hours, and phone support for eReaders, eBooks, and other related gadgets at Ross Library, Renovo Area Public Library, and as of April 26 at Friendship Community Library.
Response to sessions and results have been overwhelmingly positive, and Ross Library boasts the third highest use of the district-wide ebooks collection shared by 42 neighboring libraries over the past several months.
Ross tech trainers are moving forward. Clinton County eBooks users are moving forward. But our gadgets inventory for teaching and training are nearly zero.
Tech trainers have been using their own equipment and virtual environments (that is, learning through research, not practice) to learn to use mainstream eBook readers and tablets in order to be able to teach others how to use the library's eBooks collections and such - no iPads, Nooks, or Kindles have been available for learning or training.
Last week, a local library user group, "the MahJonng Mavens," pooled together funds to donate one iPad to the technology teacher to be used for productivity and training.
Thank you, ladies, for helping us all move forward.
I am putting out the call to individuals and service organizations to follow suit.
Please consider donating a Kindle, Kindle Fire, Nook Touch, iPad, Droid tablet or other reading device to the library to help build a mobile lab and learning center to be used throughout Clinton County that allows patrons to sample the world of eReaders and eBooks.
New and used devices are welcome.
Several people will benefit from your donation of an older device once you have upgraded to a newer model.
Contact me, JA Babay, at 570-748-3321 or send an email to ross2@rosslibrary.org.
I'm your technology librarian, and I'm moving Clinton County forward.
