A friend called me late this afternoon while I was driving west on I-94 and said, “you’ve gotta do something about this library.” Well, he is in the middle of Wisconsin and I’m in Minnesota and I have no power over libraries anyway, but if his experience teaches us librarians anything it will go a long way to removing barriers for other library customers.
My friend is filling out an application for a great job. The online form requires an updated version of Word that he can’t afford, given his recent graduation and student loan payments. So he went to his local very small public library to use a computer. By the way, kudos to the library for having updated software.
He signed into the computer and began filling out the form, noticing that the time started ticking down showing “59:30” when he logged on. After an hour of work, he was almost done, when – guess what – his time was up! He ran for a library staff member, pleading for more time to finish. The staff member made a feeble attempt to help him save, but said she could do nothing. Poof! All his work was gone.
Tomorrow he will try again when the library opens at 1:00. Maybe he’ll get the application in on time before the position closes on Friday – or maybe he’ll miss out on the opportunity to get the job before he even applies.
Listen up, libraries! Access is important. Connectivity is critical for job seekers. Help him (and everybody else) out! Give ‘em a break, and a little extra time.