Help for those working or learning at home

Help for those working or learning at home
Lori Feeney

Jessica Conley, technology training coordinator, shows off some of the new technology the library has available to loan.

                        

For those among the many people working or learning from home, the Tuscarawas County Library System offers free technology that can be checked out and taken home. Chromebooks, Wi-Fi hotspot hardware, webcams, conference microphones and more can be borrowed from the library for two weeks at a time.

The library also has health and wellness items to loan out including a no-touch forehead thermometer and pulse oximeter for checking blood-oxygen levels and a light therapy lamp to help counteract the effects of jet lag, work-shift changes or just the winter blues.

All items were purchased with COVID funds to help the library keep people connected during these difficult times.

Michelle McMorrow Ramsell, director of the library, wants people to know the library and its five locations are here to help. She also explained how the library chose the technology it is offering.

“We are always thinking of our customers’ needs and considering the questions we received during the pandemic,” Ramsell said. “We selected items we felt would be most useful to people working and studying from home.”

Here are some of the items that can be checked out either at the library or online.

Webcam: This is useful for people working from home who want to hold conference calls or for simply visiting with relatives and friends.

Selfie Light Ring: “A lot of places are conducting job interviews virtually,” Ramsell said. “Wouldn’t we all want to look really nice for those interviews?” The light ring also mounts to the tripod that comes with it and can be used to improve lighting for still photos.

Chromebooks: “There are people who want to participate in online meetings but who don’t have their own computers,” Ramsell said. She also suggested borrowing a laptop can help people join in on Zoom bridal parties or showers, host a birthday party, or connect for any other reason with friends, family and work colleagues.

Wi-Fi hotspot: No internet connection? Not to worry. The library has it covered with borrowable hotspot hardware. “Just plug it in, push the start button and choose your connection,” said Jessica Conley, technology training coordinator for the library system. “It’s also mobile, so you can take it with you to another location or even use it in your car.”

Ramsell said it’s all part of narrowing the digital divide still being experienced by many in the area who don’t have access to broadband internet. The Wi-Fi service is offered free to the public through a T-Mobile government plan with reduced rates for the library.

“We’ve learned a lot in this unprecedented time,” Ramsell said. “We are doing things that, a year ago, we weren’t doing at all. People have come to see how important it is to have access to technology in order to stay connected even when we’re apart.”

Ramsell said all items checked out are carefully sanitized when returned and quarantined for four days before being lent out again.

New digital library app also available

Conley said a new library app, the SEO Libraries App, is now available for downloading from Apple or Google. Items can be reserved or actually checked out. “You can even request curbside pickup of your items at any of our locations,” Ramsell said.

Ramsell said the new features available with the app are important. “It means people don’t have to have contact with a staff member if they don’t want to come inside due to COVID. But they may also simply want to remain in the car because it’s too cold or because they have a sleeping child in the vehicle. All of these are good reasons to use the app’s features.”

Ramsell also assured the public many of these services will live on long after COVID is gone.

Changes within the buildings

Ramsell said there have been a great many changes made within the library walls as well, all made possible with funds from the CARES Act. This includes Plexiglas barriers on service desks, computer stations and public tables. Cold plasma ionized generators in the main library’s HVAC system and a microshield treatment on work and bathroom surfaces provide continuous protection from pathogens.

“We’ve also purchased electrostatic sprayers we use to sanitize our buildings nightly,” Ramsell said. “And we are in the process of getting a table that will have four stations with barriers between them that people can reserve for meetings.”

Ramsell said the library is offering the public a wealth of virtual programming as well through equipment purchased with COVID funds. Those funds also allowed the system to purchase plenty of gloves, masks and hand sanitizer.

To check out items

Checking out any of the new technology or health and wellness items is simple, according to Conley. Visit the library’s website at www.tusclibrary.org and go to the Catalog to find the Library of Things. Library staff and Conley can be reached at 330-364-4474 to address any technical difficulties or questions.


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