The George H. & Laura E. Brown Library is keeping up with the times. This week, the public is invited to experience how.
From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 1, Washington’s library will host “Dig Deeper @ Your Library,” a service fair, reception and introduction to new programs and technology offered through the library, including Overdrive, Pronunciator, Ancestry.com and NCLive — some of which were made possible through the donations of Friends of Brown Library, a nonprofit organization that supports the library with both funds and volunteers.
According to Library Assistant Kim Davenport, the new services may require a hands-on introduction for those with less computer experience.
One of those is Overdrive, a program that allows readers to access books from anywhere.
“Patrons will be able to download books from home,” Davenport said. “They can access it with their library cards and that goes for any place all over the world.”
Pronunciator offers 60 languages to learn through an interactive program that evaluates pronunciation when a student speaks into a microphone. Brown Library patrons will be able to delve into their ancestry with onsite library access to the genealogical website Ancestry.com and through NCLive, can access even more research materials and eBooks.
“We will have staff onsite to assist and introduce them (patrons) to the programs,” Davenport said. “If they need help downloading a book for the first time, show them how to log into Pronunciator — they can get onsite help.”
Also to be introduced is the library’s new online catalog with built-in assistance for those looking a particular type of reading.
“You can select the book you want and if we don’t have it, it will give you other suggestions,” Davenport explained.
Library staff will also use the reception to launch Brown Library’s summer reading program, new webpage and Facebook site.
The George H. & Laura E. Brown Library is located at 122 Van Norden St., 252-946-4300.