A rendering of the Cleveland Bradley County Public LibraryGADGET WEEKClasses held each day from 10 a.m. to noon and 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.:• Monday -- Digital cameras• Tuesday -- Barnes & Noble Nook• Wednesday -- Amazon Kindle• Thursday -- Apple devices• Friday -- Android tablets and phonesFor more information on library programming, call 423-472-2163 or go to www.clevelandlibrary.org.Source: Cleveland Bradley County Library
CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- The Cleveland-Bradley County Library kicks off the year with a week of classes designed to help patrons get the most out of their digital book readers.
Gadget Week launches Monday and lasts through Friday, with 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. sessions each day. Amazon's Kindle, Barnes & Noble's Nook, Apple devices and Android tablets and phones each have their day, while Monday opens with digital cameras.
"We like to shake up our classes to get people into the library," said David Ingram, technology coordinator for the library. "We want to show people how to use the library with their devices."
Up to 12 patrons may register for each session, according to Ingram. Registration requires a $5 refundable deposit, returned at the end of class.
The library timed "Gadget Week" to make the most of the electronic gift-giving of the holidays, said Ingram, who teaches a digital book reader class every weekend.
"I think of the library's collection of digital books as a virtual branch of the library," said Ingram, noting it has the convenience of patron access 24 hours a day as long as you have an Internet connection.
Library Director Andrew Hunt consistently reported the popularity of downloadable works to the library board last year, saying e-books are an essential component of the library.
Digital downloads jumped to about 1,000 works each month in 2011, according to Hunt. Until December 2010, downloads averaged 600 or 700 works per month, he said.
The library also seeks to provide its patrons with Internet access and computer labs, according to Hunt, and now offers 80 computers for general use and another 40 for computer-based workshops.
Ingram said he is in the process of cleaning up the library's wireless access to give patrons a consistent connection, a process that involves consolidating the building's access spots and filtering out interference from outside wireless beacons.
The library's first floor's wireless access makeover was completed this fall, and it gives patrons a "huge difference in quality of service," Ingram said.
The library plans to address its second floor wireless cleanup sometime in 2012, he said.
Paul Leach is based in Cleveland. Email him at paul.leach.press@gmail.com.