| March 7th, 2018

Mobile hotspots coming to public library

By: journeymagazine

By| Daria Laycock

In her address to the Friends of the Library citizens advisory board Cay Hohmeister, extension services manager of the Leroy Collins Leon County Public Library system took a nostalgic approach to the business of libraries before thrusting her audience into the future of them.

She urged patrons to consider the library “a place to stop and browse.”

She ran down a list of the Library’s accomplishments. Hohmeister stopped briefly to gloat about the success of the county’s annual African American read in, a vastly popular storytime, which saw a record 75 attendees this year.

She reminded the room of board members about all of the library’s traditional roles before informing them that the Leon County Library System will soon start to check out mobile hotspot devices.

These devices will provide library patrons with mobile internet access. This will allow anyone with a smart device and cell phone to connect to the device and surf the web.

This move is another step into the future of the Leon County library system which also checks out laptop computers, tablets and other digital media.

According to Kaleigh Clemons, a reference librarian for the county, circulation for books, media and other materials falls at about 7.68 percent of the total collection while her branch’s 50 computers have a 35.02 percent usage rate.

Librarians know first hand that access to the internet does more the help library patronage than dissuade it. In fact, it has become one of their most popular services.

The internet has become a vital tool in education as well as career sourcing, two of the citizens’ primary needs.

The library has gone as far as to offer one-on-one technology tutoring to help bridge the gap between those accustomed to technology and those who are not.

For those who have sworn their lives to the art of information dissemination tech tutoring can be a rewarding process.

“It’s the difference between teaching a man to fish and giving him fish,” said Richard Cortina, branch manager of the southside library. “In the past, people come in. They ask for a book. I give it to them. They leave. Now I’m teaching people the skills they need to find information on their own.”

Library employees will undoubtedly be giving a few tutorials on the new hotspots once they make their debut.

The Leroy Collins Leon County Public Library system has seven branches all of which are expected to circulate wifi hotspots before the start of the 2019-20 fiscal year.