More Information About . . .
the Bealsville Electronic Library
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Future of the Region Community Service Award
Honorable Mention Electronic Libraries - Hillsborough County
The electronic library concept was recognized by the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council during their annual Future of the Region Awards (FOR) Program. The progam provides recognition for outstanding achievements and contributions that benefit the regional community.
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At present the community of Bealsville has no easily accessible library services. The community is situated in rural eastern Hillsborough County and public transportation is not readily available. The majority or cultural and educational outlets are at significant distances. Access to the Bruton Memorial Library in Plant City or the Brandon Regional Library in Brandon is difficult, at best.
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The Bealsville Electronic Library was designed to provide library access to a community without a nearby county library. As the first of five pilot projects using space in a County recreation center to enable local residents the ability to access the county library system and its services, the Bealsville Electronic Library has been the "testing" location the library system has used to create other eLibraries. Every success and failure has been watched closely so as new locations are created, successes can be emulated and failures can be reduced. The Network Services Department of the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System in conjunction with library administration, library training staff, Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation & Conservation and the Keysville Recreation Center staff oversee the operation of this unique partnership.
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The establishment of this electronic library, with grant money provided through a FloriNet Connectivity & Services Grant, provides the community with access to many resources commonly found in a branch library within Hillsborough County. Residents can access THOR, the library catalog, which allows the customer to search for material anywhere in the County, place holds and have books delivered to their homes. They can view their personal library record and much more.
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This electronic library contains four PCs, a laser printer and a small collection of reference books. It is connected to the library via a dedicated 384Kbps frame-relay circuit which makes the electronic library "live" all the time as opposed to a modem, dial-up connection. All PCs are equipped with a full compliment of office productivity tools (Office XP).
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Additionally, customers are able to access a wide variety of the library system's web subscription products including, but not limited to, resources such as LiFinder, Biography Resource Center, bigchalk library & EBSCOHost (full-text magazine/newspaper articles).
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The facility to house the equipment was completed via a joint effort between the Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation & Conservation Department and the library system. The library's Network Services Department provides the set-up and initial training of the recreation center staff. An additional grant throught the State of Florida has enabled the library system to initiate regularly scheduled training and servicing of this eLibrary. Since the conclusion of the original training grant, on-going "special" programs and training have been provided through the cooperative efforts of library training staff and the recreation center staff.
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A variety of information and resources are available to customers of the electonic library. These services include interactive comments form, access to the Calendar of Events and pathfinders explaining additional library services. Library card applications can be completed and submitted electronically. Once the application is processed, the library card is mailed to the customer's home address, in the community of Hopewell, Bealsville or Springhead so they can take advantage of other unique library services including a books-by-mail program.
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Hours change depending on the time of year and in accordance with each recreation center's community needs. Typically, during the summer months recreation centers operate between 8am and 6pm as well as during school intermissions such as the winter holidays and spring break. Please call ahead whenever planning to visit the electronic library to confirm hours of operation and accessibility.
If you have further questions, please feel free to comment on the Bealsville Electronic Library.
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