Darrell Laurant: Library workers helping people figure out their devices

Jordan Welborn was expecting this — a steady, post-holiday flow of people seeking not to return their electronic Christmas gifts, but simply to understand them.

"Some people are all excited about their new things," Welborn said. "Others are scared to death."

Either way, Welborn is glad to help. As the technical services librarian for the Campbell County Library System, part of her job is serving as an interpreter between puzzled patrons and their Nooks, Kindles and iPads.

Welcome to Library 2.0.

"I'm having to learn a lot myself," Welborn said. "People are bringing in new products all the time that I've never seen before."

Wednesday, Welborn and public services librarian Shelley Oakes offered free consultations at the Timbrook Branch. Thursday and Friday of next week, they will be at the Rustburg Library. On Jan. 24 and Jan. 26, they will be in Brookneal, and on Feb. 1-3 at the branch in Altavista.

“We had 25 people on Monday,” Welborn said, adding a chilly daylong rain probably kept attendance down Wednesday.

The service is advertised as offering help with the world of technology in general, from downloading e-books to signing onto the library computers.

One elderly man interpreted that mandate quite broadly Wednesday, asking Timbrook branch librarian Judy Gerlinger if she could make sense of a message on his cell phone. She took the request quite seriously, although she couldn’t understand it, either.

Certainly, a tsunami of innovation washed over libraries in the past decade, quickening the pace and diversifying the inventory.

“We have quite a few e-books now,” Welborn said, “and people are beginning to ask for them.”

Eventually, they’ll probably be able to send a robot to your house to collect overdue book fines.

Older patrons are especially vulnerable to technological challenges. And when they can’t find the book they thought they downloaded onto their Kindle, or begin to think their iPad came from another planet, they need the TLC their grandkids or an outsourced technician in Bangladesh are unable to provide.

“I had one woman tell me her grandson tried to show her, but he did everything so fast,” Welborn said. “I try to keep it slowed down.”

Slow comes naturally to her. Welborn is from Wilkes County, N.C., home of stockcar legend Junior Johnson and a tradition of moonshining that rivals Franklin County. There is a relative dearth of high technology.

“I didn’t get the Internet into my home until a year ago,” she said, “but I did learn how to use computers in high school. I’ve just been picking it up as I go along.”

Wednesday, Welborn and Oakes occupied a rear table at Timbrook with various objects spread out before them.

“These come from the state library,” Welborn said. “They call it a ‘petting zoo.’”

Sometimes, though, those supposedly user-friendly electronic gadgets can bite their owners.

“There’s a lot of validation in doing this,” Welborn said.