Family Tech: Public libraries critical to community

Family Tech: Public libraries critical to community - September 9, 2016

Our county libraries are bragging they are Pokemon Go gyms, where players of the game can capture virtual Pokemons.

This phone game is all the rage now with kids through adults. I know a minister who plays and is proud his church property is home to three Poke stops.

I’m happy to see the library promoting this on its website. Staffers understand that being a Pokemon gym is a wonderful way to attract patrons who may have forgotten about the library.

Are public libraries obsolete? It is understandable to wonder this in the world of broadband, eBooks, Netflix and are other digital media services. The library does not seem to have the same gravitation pull it once did for many of us.

In reality, our public libraries are more important than ever.

Not everyone can afford a computer, or if they can, also afford broadband. Yet most jobs these days require you to fill out online applications.

Our public libraries and their free computers and internet access let those folks find jobs. It also gives all of us a critical backup to our home infrastructure. If our computer breaks the night before an important project is due, we can always go to the library. In a recent column on contingency plans for when things go badly, the library was an important component.

Have you converted to ebooks? I love having a book always with me on my phone. While perhaps not as tactically satisfying as a paper book, the availability of reading material wherever I am is nice.

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