Municipal Library

Library partners with school in digital transformation
Posted on 08/19/2013

More than 500 Poplar Bluff Junior High students took advantage of the public library’s sign-up offering last week during laptop deployment.

The Poplar Bluff Municipal Library has partnered with the school district to establish a Wi-Fi ‘hot spot,’ providing students free Internet access in the evenings and on the weekends.

“I am so pleased that the public library has joined forces with the school district in transforming the way we reach and teach students of this generation,” said Patty Robertson, R-I assistant superintendent of curriculum/instruction, who met with library officials earlier this summer to discuss the digital transformation.

“It was immediately obvious that the library staff wanted to be a part of this project and shared our mission,” continued Robertson, “helping to improve the education of the students and families in this community.”

When Sue Crites Szostak, who took the helm as library director in January, first learned about the school’s one-to-one initiative—to get a MacBook Air in the hands of every student Junior High and up by the 2014/15 school year—she immediately began brainstorming how her staff can help.

“A goal of mine since the beginning has been to develop partnership relationships in the community,” Crites Szostak stated. “We’re all stronger together.”

The municipal library, which is required to maintain a secured network under the Student International Positive Psychology Association, already offers a homework program through which the cost of printing photocopies is waived for students. Many educational resources are available there such as World Book and EBSCO, along with other online databases and e-books.

The library will be open from 1-5 p.m. on Sundays following Labor Day up until Memorial Day. Regular hours are 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Thursday, and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

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Cutline: Poplar Bluff Public Library Technology Coordinator Rusty VanPraag and Assistant Director Shannon Mangrum plug their mobile devices in at the download station in the North Main Street facility.

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