In the initial round of broadband stimulus funding back in December a total of $1.9 million was awarded to the Boston Public Library (BPL), which was partnered with the Boston Housing Authority (BHA) and the Boston Center for Youth and Families (BCYF.)
The addition of around 281 public terminals that with allow users to access the internet is currently being planned by the BPL now that they have won the stimulus funding. Along with the new computers came a promise from the BPL in its winning application to arrange a schedule of internet usage classes.
The digital projects manager for the BPL, Thomas Blake said “I can’t emphasize enough that it’s more important to teach people how to use this stuff effectively, rather than just plugging the terminals in and saying, ‘Good luck.’”
Basic computer usage queries like when to double click and when not to, how to open a browser and how to create an email attachment were apparently the most common questions librarians were asked by patron according to Blake.
One class will be offered each day at the main library branch, while a minimum of a single class every week will be offered at the 25 other branches. As well as this a single branch every month will provide a class in Spanish.
Blake advised “It might be that a basic class gets taught on Monday. Then a more advanced class happens on Tuesday. Every day you’ll be able to walk into the central branch library and find some sort of training class.”
The implementation of this project over the next two years without the need to add any further staff is something that the BPL believes to be a realistic target to achieve. In order to make sure that it didn’t make promises that it would be unable to keep the BPL have kept the goals for the stimulus funding modest said Blake. The installation of terminals is expected to begin in mid-2011, advised Blake, as the technology staff in the agency require a year to plan the rollout and to add the wiring infrastructure that is required.
Source – Gov Tech