[Publib] RE: Public computer classes

[Kate A. Pohjola]

We offer computer classes year-round.  We have a 10 station computer lab 
in the basement of our administration building.  It works well for 
classes, but this building has no elevator, so we have major 
accessibility issues.

We belong to a library cooperative which owns two mobile computer labs. 
  Each lab has ten laptops, a teacher's laptop, a wireless router, and 
an electronic white board.  When we have the mobile lab, we are able to 
offer courses in nearly any location that has an internet connection. We 
offer classes in the meeting room at our main branch, in our seven 
out-county branches, and we are considering bringing the library to our 
municipalities - we serve 62,378 residents in 13 townships and one city.

Our upcoming class schedule is posted on our website: 
http://www.library.lapeer.org/computer.htm

Initially we had one staff member that was teaching classes, but we 
discovered that many of our staff members are great teachers.  Our 
original staffer still teaches, but she also coordinates finding 
instructors for the other classes.  I taught an eTravel course last fall 
that was well-attended, and I'm doing the Blogging 101 session in May, 
and hosting one of the Drop-In Lab sessions as well.

We give each student an evaluation form at the end of the class, which 
includes asking for ways to improve the offerings.  The most amusing 
piece of feedback we have received so far was that we should offer "beer 
and sandwiches" at our classes (:

We do not charge for our classes, and we promote them community-wide. 
Attendance varies, but since January, we have only had to cancel one 
class due to a lack of interest.



kate
-- 
Kate A. Pohjola, Director
Lapeer District Library
201 Village West Drive, Lapeer, MI  48446
http://www.library.lapeer.org
v: 810.664.9521    f: 810 664-8527


Patrick F Dunn wrote:
> I have been conducting basic internet searching workshops at our library
> for the past few years.  I'm starting to expand the program by offering
> other subjects, like e-mail, advanced browser searching, and using the
> library catalog, but we're very limited in what we can do, having no
> "lab" - just a few public access machines reserved for the session.  I
> do get some feedback from patrons who just want to know the most basic
> stuff on using a computer, but that seems inappropriate, as well as
> impractical, since our security (and policy) blocks out hard drive
> access and other utilities. 
> 
> What kind of facilities are others using for their workshops?