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The Urban Libraries Council (ULC) has selected the Brooklyn Public Library’s (BPL) Get Smart. Get Connected. technology program to receive the 2001 ULC/Highsmith Award of Excellence. The $1,000 award, underwritten by Highsmith Inc., will be presented on Sunday, June 17, at the annual ULC Leadership Breakfast held during the American Library Association’s Annual Conference in San Francisco.
The Get Smart. Get Connected. program provides free computer and internet training for people of all ages, utilizing the Library’s over 850 public access computers. By offering training together with free and open access to electronic communication on the World Wide Web, the program aims to provide people with navigational skills, especially those with no other point of on-line access. Martín Gómez, Brooklyn Public Library’s Executive Director, stated, “[P]lacing computers in libraries is only the first step to providing public access to information technology. Only when patrons are equipped with basic computer navigation skills do they really have ‘access’ to the Internet. Brooklyn Public Library’s Get Smart. Get Connected. project offers patrons free programs to acquire the skills they need in today’s ‘information age.’”
According to ULC/Highsmith Award Committee chair Clyde Scoles, Director, Toledo-Lucas County Public Library, “Get Smart. Get Connected. impressed the Highsmith Award of Excellence Committee with its outreach to minorities, families with children, teenagers, single parent households, and those with low economic means who cannot afford a home computer.”
Programs that are regularly offered include Homework Help, Internet for Families, Education and Job Information, Introduction to the World Wide Web for Adults, Teens and Children, and on-line research at Brooklyn Public Library. New programs include Get Connected to Consumer Health Information, virtual scavenger hunts and special holiday Internet programs for children. During Black History Month, one branch developed a program to help patrons find on-line information on African-American heritage.
Currently, Brooklyn Public Library offers about 75 public training workshops each month. According to a Brooklyn Public Library on-line survey, user satisfaction with the program is high. As one workshop participant stated, “It makes me feel like a citizen.”
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For more information, link to the Brooklyn Public Library website under Events & Exhibitions/Internet for Families from the Urban Libraries Council website at www.urbanlibraries.org or direct to the Brooklyn Public Library at www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/calendar/internetfamilies.htm.
The ULC Highsmith Award is given to library projects that demonstrate excellence in one of ULC’s Strategy Areas. This year’s award highlights the Urban Asset area. Founded in 1971, the ULC offers advocacy, consulting, research and training support services to its members. |
