Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
MERCER PUBLIC Library Director Teresa Schmidt demonstrates how to sort apps into folders Tuesday at the library during a lesson on using an iPad or iPhone.
By RICHARD JENKINS
MERCER, Wis. - The Mercer Public Library offered residents a chance to learn how use their iPads and iPhones Tuesday, part of a recent effort by library director Teresa Schmidt to help people become familiar with newer technology.
The larger effort, known as "Tech Tuesdays," stemmed from the increase in questions Schmidt was getting from residents about their devices.
"Tech Tuesdays, we do almost every Tuesday," Schmidt said. "... It's from 1 to 3 p.m. most Tuesdays and people just drop in with their devices and their questions."
She teaches specialized classes, such as the one on iPads and iPhones, when she notices reoccurring themes.
"Once in a while I'll put together a specific class when I've had a lot of people asking me the same questions," she said. "Or, like right after the holidays, we did a little class about using our collection because we knew a lot of people got new tablets and Kindles for Christmas."
The topics generally stay broad, Schmidt said, who encourages people with specific issues to get professional assistance.
"What I typically answer are questions that are too small to really pay tech support to do and simple how-to questions," she said. "When it comes to actual hardware and software problems - if they're really having something wrong with their computer - then I refer them on to somewhere else. But if they just want to learn how to use their device, that's mostly what I do."
The reception from patrons has been positive so far.
"In the past I've done a lot of classes here at the library on different technology topics - everything from Microsoft office to using your iPad to digital cameras - and I started getting more and more people just dropping in with questions about their devices," Schmidt said, referring to how the idea started.
She thinks having the drop-in time happen on a schedule every week increases the popularity as residents know they can generally rely on it.
The next class, on Android smart phones, will be at 1 p.m., Jan. 31.
