Technology Made Simple - OLA Super Conference Feb 2 2012

Beverley King, Information Services Librarian, Clare Hanman, Technical Services Librarian, Darlene Green, Library Technician, Halton Hills PL

• Halton Hills Public Library's one year old program for seniors.
• Funded by New Horizons $25,000 grant
• Targeted to seniors not already served by the local seniors' centre computer literacy program, whose goal is to get their home PCs running.
• Also, the local Adult Learning Centre offered job search-related computer training.

Format:

• Drop in any time between 2-4pm Friday afternoon.
• Short presentation on a topic followed by one on one help.
• One staff (Darlene?) leads all sessions -- another non-public service staff is available as backup if numbers are big on a particular day.
• Two kinds of handouts: Key Points and Detailed Instructions
• Gradually gained some volunteer Mentors (more confident seniors who helped out others)
• Not official "Volunteers" because these seniors like to travel, and not make steady commitments
• Volunteers taught homebound patrons to request their own Interlibrary Loans -- took the program on the road...

Decided to use staff only model, after interviewing Oakville Public Library leader of OPL's totally volunteer delivered program.

Why? "volunteers won't sell your library system for you. May even detract your efforts."

Lessons Learned:

• Hard to recruit seniors for Advisory Group on topics -- got more information from talking to people than from surveys.
• Must have the latest technology: budget for it!
• Good reference skills are important -- for helping people at the drop-ins. Need to understand what people are really asking for.

Presentation slides available at http://www.accessola2.com/superconference2012/422.pdf