Branching the Digital Divide: Technology as the Gateway to Curiosity

By Vanessa Craig

Moreno Valley is a city nestled in between the Coachella Valley, Lake Perris, and the San Bernardino Mountains in southern California. The scenic town of Moreno Valley has a public library that serves their population of about 200,000. With only one building to serve its residents, Ivorie Franks, the library’s director struggles with providing a sufficient amount of print material to serve their population.

To save space, Ivorie is attempting to develop a digital collection for her community that replicates the print collection. However, the patrons of Moreno Valley have a variety of different technology skill levels. Many community members do not have computers or internet connection at home.

Ivorie is the driving force behind helping branch tackle this digital divide. She is working alongside her staff to make their patrons more comfortable with technology and eResources. “The key is to include various staff members in the process of educating library patrons about digital library resources,” proposes Ivorie.

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3 Surefire Tips to Help ESL/EFL Patrons Utilize eResources

Supporting ESL

By Anne Nagrant 

My experience living abroad as a Peace Corps Volunteer made me very sympathetic to those in our local communities for whom English is not their native language. No matter the level of English a patron has, public libraries should be prepared to serve all.

Inside the library, signage and pictures can help visitors find what they need. Library staff can enunciate clearly and try saying the same thing in different ways. Because some immigrants prefer reading to conversation, offer flyers and handouts to take home. Order free Spanish-language print materials from Gale’s ProMo site to promote Informe Académico or PowerSpeak Languages.

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Creative Marketing + Customer Care = The Perfect Match for Any Library

By Dale Prentiss

Cathy Jones, a relatively new Instructional Services Librarian at Florida Southern College’s Roux Library, has been creative and ambitious in reaching out to faculty and promoting Gale digital resources on the college’s website—and we’d like to take a moment to celebrate that with the hopes that her experiences can also help you!

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