Athens Public Library partnered with the Islamic Center of Athens in December 2002 to present a program on "Arabic Writing and its History." Activies included demonstrations, audience participation, and writing names in Arabic. For further information, contact Lauren Miller.
The New Carlisle Public Library received grant funding from the Springfield Foundation to order library materials in Spanish. A core collection of children's and adult materials is housed at the library, and a deposit collection of materials is housed at the local Texas Migrant Headstart. Families using the Headstart may check out any of the deposit materials from the Headstart. Deposit materials include children's books, adult books, practical non-fiction on issues such as GED preparation, health, and parenting, popular DVDs, and non-fiction DVDs and videos. Library staff visit the Headstart weekly to conduct storytime for migrant children. The materials for the deposit collection were obtained by purchasing an OCLC Language Set. For more information on Language sets, which can be obtained in several languages, contact OCLC at 1-614-764-6000. For more information, contact Paula Shadle.
Verizon spokesman James Earl Jones helped the Lexington Public Library unveil a new English-Spanish computer kiosk November 6 at the Northside Wal-Mart on New Circle and Russell Cave roads. The kiosk - called the Information Station/Estación de Información - provides the public with access to bilingual information on community agencies, health topics, job searching and library resources. The kiosk was funded by a $50,000 grant from Verizon SuperPages.
By itself, this machine is little more than plastic, a keyboard, silicon chips and a screen. But once you click on, this machine comes to life and it brings the world - and the World Wide Web to be exact - to your fingertips. And with the Internet comes opportunity, and that is exciting,Mr. Jones said.
The Information Station was designed to bridge the information gap for Fayette County residents who do not have ready access to computers, electronic information, and library and city services.
It will permanently reside in the Northside Wal-Mart, which draws about 40,000 shoppers per week, about 40 percent of whom are Hispanic.
"Today, most homes in Kentucky do not have Internet access, and fully half of these homes do not have computers. The Lexington Public Library is working to overcome the information gap by providing computers for the public at all our locations and by offering free computer classes. This kiosk project goes a step further by literally taking computers and library information to the people where they are," said James Lee, president of the Lexington Public Library Board of Trustees.
Verizon SuperPage's support for the library kiosk is part of its effort to increase the literacy of both children and adults and to help people of all ages become computer literate. Also as part of this effort, Verizon SuperPages.com has added two new literacy sections to its web site: "Enlighten Me" for families and "Internet Learning Tutor" for adults.
Mr. Jones helped the library unveil the kiosk in his role as spokesman for Verizon.
"Now everyone in this community, regardless of whether their first language is English or Spanish, will be able to access the magic of the Internet through this kiosk to find a fact or a library or a job. And at the same time, they'll be improving their literacy skills. We at Verizon have long been champions of reading literacy, and I think we can all agree that reading literacy is a first step toward a promising future. But computer literacy is a second step, especially in a world that grows more dependent on technology," Mr. Jones said. For more information, contact Doug Tattershall.