This Month at Rochambeau Library

So you ask, are libraries still relevant in this digital age? Yes! Of course many of us still delight in paging through a book, sliding our fingers across its surfaces and even sniffing the print. But, equally important in these times, Providence Community Library (PCL) is a digital lender and educator.

PCL has a large collection of E-books that you can download on your own Kindle or iPad without even leaving your home. Just go to “Using the library” on the PCL website (provcomlib.org) and open “Download Free EBooks.” If you have trouble doing it at home, bring your Kindle or iPad to your neighborhood library and the librarian will teach you how to do it. You don’t have an e-reader? Well, you can even use your library card at the Rochambeau Library to borrow a Kindle already loaded with good books to read.

Of course, you can always use PCL’s free computers. On the East Side there are 12 computers for adults at Rochambeau and eight computers for adults at Fox Point. If you are still uncertain whether you can master the computer, classes are available especially tailored to your speed. On Thursdays at 2pm Cheryl Hunt, a librarian at Rochambeau, holds Digital Literacy Classes for Adults (you can’t be too old to start). And if you need more help understanding the digital world, Stephanie Shea, PCL’s Internet Specialist will help you solve your problems. You can contact her at 595-7468.

Librarians, I have discovered, are special people. At a library association meeting I learned the credo of reference librarians: “no question is too dumb.” Happily that applies to digital questions too. So now is the time for you to join the 21st century.