BLAINE, Minn. – (April 7, 2016) – “I started working in the libraries when I was 12, so I’ve been doing this a really long time,” said Jamie Dunn, librarian for Anoka County Library. Today, she is out of the library teaching seniors at the Mary Ann Young Senior Center more about computers and their devices. “I’m not trying to turn them into super users really fast, they want and need the repetition,” said Dunn. Once a month they gather to learn the basics and ask their questions.
“The first time we covered the basic how a computer works, getting on the internet, doing searching and those kinds of things. After that I kind of veer off depending on what questions they have and what they are trying to do,” said Dunn.
Most of the questions Dunn fields are practical using maps, looking up bank balances, and finding phone numbers are popular.”A lot of what they are asking us about is general internet use so we’re looking at how to use a browser, navigating to a website with a known address, or using a search engine to find the kinds of things they are looking for,” said Dunn.
But beyond that, Jamie sees these senior students looking to connect with friends, family, and especially grandchildren. “That is one thing we get asked about, Skype or Facetime people are interested in, Facebook is the other thing, they want to see pictures of grandchildren,” said Dunn. Another common question she gets is about safety. Lots of concerns about security so we talk about secured website, what’s a good choice to make for passwords, what you need to do in terms of saving files securely,” said Dunn.
I love the experience of showing someone something new and having them grasp the concept and be able to do something that they couldn’t when they came in the building for the class or assistance for the first time,” said Dunn. For Jamie, helping and teaching is the job, whether she is inside of a library that day or not. Often times, her solutions may seem simple. But for those looking for answers, often the simplest answer is the best.
“Librarianship is all about solving other people’s problems. People come and they have a school assignment or need an answer to a question or they need a tax form any of those kinds of things Those are a problem and we have solutions and providing that solution is gratifying and makes my job wonderful everyday,” said Dunn. For a class schedule click here.
