Talk about an upgrade!
Libraries across the borough will soon be sporting a bunch of new-fangled computers and gadgets, and the librarian from one tech-starved branch says the extra gizmos will be especially helpful for kids who come to do homework after school.
“I think it’s going to be a radical change to make the services we provide better,” said librarian Adriana Mitchell, who works at the Sunset Park library.
Every branch in Brooklyn is getting five iPad airs, a MacBook Pro, a Windows laptop, a flat-screen television, a new video game console, a Lego robotics kit, and a Little Bits kids electronics kit — all paid for by $3 million in state funds secured by Brooklyn Assembly members.
The Sunset Park book repository currently only has four dedicated kids’ computers and two early-literacy terminals, and Mitchell says it isn’t enough to serve all the youngsters who come in for help with school work.
The video game consoles — which will be either an Xbox, Playstation 4, or Nintendo Wii — aren’t all that educational, but will lure more teens to the institutions, she said.
“It can be a challenge to involve teens,” said Mitchell. “But they come if you give them space where they feel comfortable and technology for them to use.”
