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The H. Grady Bradshaw Chambers County Library is now offering Chromebooks and hotspot for checkout in order to help residents who do not have broadband access or a computer at home.

There are 25 Chromebooks and 20 hotspots available for seven day, at-home check with an adult library card that is in good standing from the Bradshaw Library in Valley or the LaFayette Library.

According to the Chambers County Development Authority, approximately 70% of the county geographically does not have access to high speed broadband Internet. The CCDA and Point Broadband have secured grant funding to bring broadband service to many of the underserved communities in Chambers County, but the library is also stepping up to help.

“This pilot program for the Chambers County Library funded through an Alabama CARES Act grant awarded to the Friends of the Library is a starting place to provide supplemental service to households without a computer or Internet access,” said Mary Hamilton, Library Director.

For patron privacy, nothing is saved on the Chromebook. When the borrower logs out of the device, the user’s history will be wiped clean from the computer. Signing in to a Google account or registering for a personal Google account is highly recommended.

By using a Google account, any documents created will automatically be saved to the users Google Drive account, not the Chromebook. These documents will also be available any time the user signs into their Google account from any device. The Chromebooks are set up to access the Internet and Google Drive for word processing, slide presentations and spreadsheet creation. The hotspots can connect up to 10 WiFi-enabled devices at one time. 

Documents may be sent to the library remotely for printing. Currently, the library is waiving fees for printing of essential documents.

Equipment that is not returned will be disabled within 24 hours.

For more information about checking out equipment and other library services, email askus@chamberscountylibrary.org or call (334) 768-2161.