LAKE PARK — A free laptop-checkout program is helping Palm Beach County residents completejob applications, banking transactions, court appearance paperwork and elementary school math homework.
That's just a sample of the reasons that cardholders at theLake Park Public Library have checked out laptops at thesmall library'skiosk, which it launched in May.
The kiosk stores 18 laptops that any member can check out for up to four hours.While the laptop must stay in the library, the user can use it to complete work, edit photos and audio, watch moviesor fill out forms they may be unable to access at home.
When time is up, the laptop goes back to the kiosk, where it is sanitized and its memory is wiped to protect the user's privacy.
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The grant-funded program, along with others like it in the county, shows how local libraries are shifting to meet residents' needs in a world where nearly everything is online.
"Internet is still considered a luxury, instead of the necessity it is," Library Director Judie Cooper said. "People need to use the internet and computers for practically everything, so we're trying the bridge the digital divide."
When school went online, Palm Beach Countyschools lost students
The U.S. "digital divide" – an opportunity gap between people who have access to online resources and computer skills and those who do not – has become even more pronounced during the coronavirus pandemic.
As school classes went online for most of the country, access to the internet became all-importantfor students. That means many students without reliable internet access were left out.
In Palm Beach County, nearly7,000 students left the school district during the 2020-2021 school year, The Palm Beach Post reported.
National reports attribute school enrollment declines to poor access to theinternet, technology, waning support from parents unable to work from home, moves to private and alternative schooling and teenage students who choose to work instead of finishing school.
But the Lake Park laptop program works with other parts of the library to help connect families, especially those with lower incomes, to digital resources.
"We have so many low-income residents that don’t have internet access, so something like this is phenomenal," Lake Park Public Information OfficerMerrell Angstreich told The Palm Beach Post. "If you have to do a group project in school and you are the kid who doesn’t have a laptop you can say, 'Let's meet at the library,' and use one here."
The library also offers a hotspot checkout program where cardholding members can bring home a Verizon internet hotspot for a week at a time to access the internet at home.
Cooper said she knows of families who depend on the hotspot checkout program.
"They check out the hotspot once per week, then return it and wait 24 hours until they can check it out again," she said. "We are trying to expand as much as possible what people have access to."
Where did funding for laptop checkout program come from?
Lake Park's laptop checkout program is funded by a $68,485grant from Florida's Library Services and Technology Act program, which is administered by the FloridaDepartment of State's Division of Library and Information Services.
Last year, the program awarded 37grants to libraries across the state for technology access and information services – including the Palm Beach County Library System, the Boynton Beach City library and theLantana Public Library.
Lake Park's program isn't the only laptop checkout program in the area, although it is the smallest local library to offer the service.
The Okeechobee Boulevardand the main branches of the Palm Beach County Library system, both in suburban West Palm Beach, also offerfree laptops for public use within the library. Laptops can be checked out for up to two hours at a time.
To use either program, the person checking out the laptop must have a library card.
Even residents from outside Lake Park can get a Lake Park library card, and they must present a valid driver's license with a current address to library staff to get a card.
To get a Palm Beach County library card, a Palm Beach County resident must fill out an online application at the library and provide proof of their address to library staff. Proof of address can include a driver license, voter registration card, lease, utility bill or pieces of mail addressed to the applicant.
kkokal@pbpost.com
@katikokal
