Barstow library may expand computer services for job-seekers

BARSTOW • Barstow area job seekers who use the library’s computers may soon have unlimited access and a faster Internet connection.

Currently patrons at the Barstow Branch Library can spend up to an hour at one of its 18 public computers. But the library will soon be expanding its computer lab, which will allow job-seekers to take all the time they need to search for work, fill out applications and build resumes, said Debbie Medina, the library’s branch manager.

A $30,000 Community Development Block Grant will be used to construct a new computer lab with high speed Internet and 10 new computers, said Greg Zerovnik, marketing and public relations coordinator for the San Bernardino County library system.

The city approved the grant request Feb. 11. Zerovnik said the grant request will go before the county Board of Supervisors for approval in March and again in April. The funds will be disbursed at the beginning of the 2010-2011 fiscal year, he said.

The library will also install a fast ethernet connection for its Internet setup, Zerovnik said. The ethernet connection will also allow a wireless Internet connection to be installed in the future, he said. The current set up is called a T1 line, which is what most small businesses have.

“It’s more than most people have at home with DSL, but not much,” Zerovnik said. “If people start downloading big graphic images or video clips, all of a sudden your whole network slows to a crawl.”

So many people have been coming in to use the computers that people could be waiting for up to an hour at noon and around 3 p.m. when schools get out to use the computers, Medina said. If someone is using the Internet to fill out a job application or file other paperwork, their work is often lost once their time runs out, she said.

“There’s rarely any down time that the 18 public access computers are not being used,” she said.

Holly Russell, a Barstow area resident who was at the library Monday filing for unemployment, said the first time she filed for unemployment it took longer than an hour to complete the process. On Monday, she was able to navigate through the online filing process, but was having trouble printing.

“The first time it took me forever — an hour and a half,” she said.

The proposed lab will be in the library’s current Friends of the Library used bookstore. Medina said the space may also be expanded. The bookstore will be relocated to another area of the library.

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(760) 256-4123 or jcejnar@desertdispatch.com