Once libraries only loaned Books; now a range of items can be checked out, and the latest addition here in Dallas is a laptop including wi-fi access to hotspots.
Laptops can be reserved, just as library books are, either online or by phone and picked up via the curbside service Library To Go. Returning the laptop must be done in person during operating hours at the library from which it was borrowed. The laptops can be borrowed for 30 days with a renewal option that can be exercised if no one is on the laptop waiting list.
Nine library locations will have split among them 100 Chromebooks for lending. The laptops will have Microsoft Office installed on them and be designed exclusively for internet accessibility. In April an additional 1,125 Chromebooks will be made available and 20 more lending locations added.
Brochure printing services enable libraries to provide a wealth of information about a wide range of topics such as new services.
Money for the Chromebooks came via a grant issued by the Texas State Library and Archive Commission to meet the needs of those areas dealing with the greatest digital divide. The funds originated as a CARES grant earmarked to address the challenges presented by COVID-19.
According to a survey in 2016 over 42 percent of residents here had no internet connections at home. The Dallas Public Library began in 2020 to check out hotspots, which were only cell phone accessible.
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