Baltimore County, MD Time of Your LIfe, 1 Nov 2017

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From YouTube: Baltimore County Public Library is High Tech and More!

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Ethel Rasmussen interviews Paula Miller, Director of Baltimore County Public Library

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Welcome back to the time of your life., I'm your host, ethel rasmussen., the baltimore county public library,, known as bcpl,.

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Has changed with the times in order to support its patrons' needs,.

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Including the technology they require.

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on the show today is paula, miller,, director of the baltimore county public library, who's. Here to talk about the many services, the library offers.

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Welcome to the show, paula. thanks so much..

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Can you provide some background information about bcpl?.

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Sure, absolutely.

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We are a system of 19 branches throughout baltimore, county.

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Ranging in size from small branches to quite large ones.

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We love that we serve all ages in the county,, so we really are serving all 820,000-plus residents. Here.

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And our libraries have changed today.

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So we're very happy to provide 21st century services.

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One of the things that we're always emphasizing is that we're not just about the books within our walls, anymore.

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We're really about the people and the ideas and the connections that they make there. oh,, that's wonderful.

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Libraries certainly are changing.. I understand that you have many programs for adults, including technology and computer-related classes throughout the county.

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Is it true that the library also offers laptops for cardholders?.

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So we actually offer about 12,000 programs, a year.

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Wow. a year -- across the county., many of those are for children,, but many of those and more and more so are also for adults.

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One of the things that we've done is try to provide technology.

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We are sort of a gateway to individuals, learning.

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About new technologies and emerging technology.

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So this past year we started circulating chromebooks.

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They're, a small footprint device, easily portable,.

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And a great device to kind of learn on if you're unsure whether.

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You want to buy one for yourself or you have a project.

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Or want to put in some job applications and that kind of thing.

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So we have about 400 chromebooks system wide for borrowing.

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They can be checked out for a week at a time.

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Many of our viewers are grandparents or even great-grandparents.

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yes.. Can you talk about the multi-generational programs that you offer at the library and how they can get involved in those?.

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We love doing more and more of those as well., so we have story times, of course, for children.

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We frequently will provide special story times that are for caregivers.

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So it could be a parent and a child, grandparent and a child.

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We do lots of family game nights and family programs throughout the year.

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So,, I would encourage people to just watch our website for things that are coming up for that..

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I'll also mention that we have two storyvilles in the system.

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So, for those who might have grandchildren under the age of 5.

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Or up to the age of 5,, that is a great place to take your grandchild.

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Spend, you know, hour, an afternoon there.

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There are lots of things for the children to interact with,.

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And they're both located within a library,.

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So then you can go and check out the books as well.

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What other services does bcpl offer that the public may not be aware of?.

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Well, I'll start with one that kind of relates to your question about the chromebooks and especially with the holiday season coming up.

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If individuals receive new techno-- or buy themselves new technology.

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Over the holiday season, when those prices tend to go down,.

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We have a very tech-savvy staff.

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Who are happy to provide guidance on those devices.

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So, we have a program that is called . My librarian..

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People can just go on our website,. Look up the number.

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For the closest branch to you, and give us a call.

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And set up an appointment for up to 60 minutes.

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We'll help you figure out how to download items.

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Onto the new device that you have.

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We can provide some little bit of tutorial information.

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On computer needs that you might have.

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So,, just really anything technology related.

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What a great resource! thanks.

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Many people enjoy e-books.. Does the library offer that?

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yes. yes,, we do.

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We have about 100,000 items in our collection that are downloadables.

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And that represents right now about eight to ten percent of our borrowing.

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So still, the heaviest part of our borrowing are those physical items. --.

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You know, regular books,, audio books, and those kinds of things.

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But each year the e-borrowing goes up and if you have one of those devices,.

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You know that they're very--, those are also very portable,.

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Great to take on an airplane, because you can download several things at once on them.

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So I'm sure some of our viewers are inspired to want to get back in.

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To the library and check out all of this new technology., how can one get a new library, card?.

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Well, it's very easy.! If you don't already have one, just come in to the branch of your choice,.

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And bring a photo id., that's the main thing. just have the photo id with you and our staff will help you do the application.

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in closing,. Is there anything else.

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That you would like to share about the library? just that there is so much more than you might have thought.

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There traditionally has been in our libraries.

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So again, all of the newer things, look for emerging technologies.

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That we're providing.

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and I guess back to e-downloads,. We also have streaming video.

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And online magazines on our website., so I would encourage people to go to our website,, which is bcpl.info...

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And movies, too. am I correct? yeah, exactly, streaming movies that you can download there.

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We've just purchased a couple of new resources this year and we would love so see them. Used.

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Excellent!, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to be with us today.

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thanks. So much.

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We're going to take a short break.

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When we return, we'll learn about senior center travel, senior box office, and what's happening at your local senior center.

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