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Check Out E-Government

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By SHERRI LONON

In The Loop

Published: January 15, 2009

Pasco County library users no longer have to endure long waits to get on computers or face strict time limits as they fill out job applications or government forms.

Thanks to the E-Government program, at least two new laptop computers have been delivered to each branch in the system.

The laptops are courtesy of a $250,000 federally funded state grant to promote E-Government on the local level. The county's library system was the only one in the state to receive funding, which it has landed twice now.

Nancy Fredericks, the county library system's E-Government manager, said the overall program began in response to the Library Services and Technology Act that instructed all federal agencies to make online access to forms available to the public. States have followed suit.

The legislation paved the way for many standard government-related application forms to appear online. This means that in many cases, obtaining assistance no longer requires travel to an agency's offices. Unemployment, food stamp assistance, job placement help and other similar forms can be found and filled out online for submission.

No matter where you are, if you have access to the Internet, you now can get these forms, Fredericks said. Unfortunately, she added, not everyone has Internet access, so they come to the libraries.

Before receiving the grant, libraries throughout the county were noticing long waits for people who wanted to get on computers to fill out applications and apply for assistance.

The new Dell laptops are reserved for the program and do not have time limits attached to their use. This means a person who is filling out an application to work for the state, for example, won't have to panic that the system will time-out before the form is completed, Fredericks said.

This offers them an unlimited amount of time, she said.

In addition to the laptop computers, the county library system's E-Government program, which is run by Fredericks, also is providing a host of other related services. At each library, patrons who ask to use E-Government laptops can get help using the laptops.

Fredericks said library staff will not fill out applications for patrons, but they will help them learn the basic skills needed to do so.

The library system also intends to sponsor a number of E-Government-related workshops in 2009 and maintains a blog related to the program on its Web site at www.pascolibraries.org.

"It's our mission to be there for people," said Fredericks, explaining why the library system is so active in the online movement.

For Hugh Embry Branch Library manager Angelo Liranzo, the arrival of the laptops has been good news.

"It's really meeting a need," he said, adding that the computers have been in use almost constantly since their arrival.

For information on the library system's E-Government program, go online to www.pascolibraries.org or call Fredericks at (727) 861-3020.

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