In a time of e-books and phone apps it would be hard to find someone who gets more excited about going to the library than Nora Conte. Perhaps that’s because she spends more time among books than most other people in the county, being that she is the librarian at the San Benito County Free Library.
If you think books get her excited, you should hear her when she talks about broadband and Wi-Fi, both of which have recently been upgraded significantly at the library. Right now, though, she is happy that her place of work has its own week: National Library Week, April 10-16, and even its own slogan—”Libraries Transform.”
In celebration of the event Monday, there was cake, a ribbon-cutting, new computers throughout the building, and two brand new self-help monitors to check out books. Conte told BenitoLink why it’s important to recognize what libraries contribute to a community.
“It’s a time to celebrate libraries in our country and that we still have them,” she said. “It’s an opportunity to know as much as we want to by being able to access information that can help us in any way we wish to utilize that information.”
It’s also vital, Conte said, that people know not only how important libraries are, but that they have fallen on hard times as many communities have cut back funding.
“There’s just not enough money to purchase the books, to hire staff, to get the type of equipment that would enable us to enter the 21st Century, particularly in the rural communities,” Conte said. “But I want to say things are looking up. I’m very encouraged about the future of libraries because more than ever people need information and the fast connectivity. We have the ability to connect to other sources of information. We’ll soon have the ability to connect to San Francisco Exploratorium. We’re going to have a demonstration today how we can do that.”
Library staff and volunteers can show people how to access e-books through Overdrive or Project Gutenberg, which include publications no longer in the public domain in e-books.
For those who have not been to the county library lately, Conte said that over the past year-and-a-half she applied for a grant that paid for a faster broadband to give people easier access to the Internet, as well as faster Wi-Fi speeds, allowing more people simultaneous access. She pointed out the new self-help machines.
“We’ve never had those before,” Conte said. “People will be able to come in and check materials out. Staff will be right there to assist them. They’re easy to use, but if people want help we’ll be there to assist them.”
The library is offering more classes than ever on the use of digital devices.
“We now have a digital training area,” Conte said. “If you want to participate in a class or have an individual tutorial session on a device, they can call us and we’ll be more than happy to set up a time for them to come in. We’re also scheduling classes.”
The problem before, she said, was the lack of broadband that slowed access to the Internet, which discouraged people as the computers sat endlessly “buffering.” Another benefit to the faster broadband is the adult lab. She said the computers were relatively new, but were underused before because of slow access.
“We’ve also expanded the children’s collection of computers, so we have and expanded children’s lab, plus we have computers for three to six-year-old children, that will help them develop their reading skills,” she said. “Those become very important because of the limitation of space for pre-schools in our area. If, for whatever reason, children cannot go to pre-school they can come here and start learning.”
She emphasized how important the library, with its expanded broadband, is to area students who do not have Internet access in their homes.
“It’s important for them to be able to have access for their homework,” she said. “We used to have only three computers. Now we have seven that are available. They can come here and stay as long as they want.”
There is also a new Wi-Fi table where people can bring in their own laptops or other digital devices to link up and stay as long as they want. Other long-time offerings that are continuing include a literacy program for people trying to strengthen their English reading skills. The library has 15 tutors who help in partnership with Gavilan College for students who take ESL (English as Second Language) classes at the satellite campus, then come to the library for literacy classes.
“We’re always looking for tutors,” Conte said. “Right now, we have 10 individuals on the waiting list who need tutors.”
As important as faster broadband has proven to be for the library, Conte said books continue to be just as important because people access information with whatever source makes them comfortable. She said she believes it’s not broadband versus books, though. It’s both. She said she went to a digital library in San Antonio, Texas, and what she saw was a lot of news about the library when it first opened, but she found out later that people were still saying they wanted books, as well.
“The children want to have books,” she said. “We want to teach them the basics of reading by introducing them to vocabulary, introducing them to literature and phonological skills, the narrative skills, to hear something and articulate it back to you. It’s all about the learning process, so books are still extremely important. I don’t see it as one or the other.”
Conte’s enthusiasm dampened slightly when the discussion turned to funding. She said it is her hope that since the economy appears to be improving the library will do better.
“We do need to have more materials and to continue to upgrade our technology,” she said. “Things change and peoples’ access needs increase. We want to be able to keep up with all of that. We need staff training so they will be knowledgeable and be able to help the public with technology needs. Staff development becomes a very important thing.”
Even though Conte remains enthusiastic about the future growth, she said volunteers are an important part of the equation to assure the library continues to do so.
“An example of how volunteers contribute to the library is the RFID project that includes the self-help machines,” she said. “We had nine volunteers trying to get all of our books tagged. Volunteers are extremely important. They also help us with story time, with literacy, the summer reading program. Last year, we had over 800 kids sign up for summer reading. Out of that, 536 children completed their summer reading program goals. It’s a wonderful community. It has great kids who want to read and to learn. We’re doing everything we possibly can to keep up with their learning needs.”
Conte noted that the county Board of Supervisors has been supportive of the library’s needs, but there simply is not enough money. She suggested that concerned citizens could communicate with the county or city representatives and said in her experience the officials are willing to listen.
Asked if the library accepts donations, Conte said people can donate through the San Benito County Friends of the Library, which is a 501c3 organization, so they can deduct any donation from their taxes.
For more information on the San Benito County Free Library go to: http://sbcfl.org/.
First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. It is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation’s libraries and librarians and to promote library use and support. All types of libraries – school, public, academic and special – participate. – American Library Association
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