Nora Conte, the county librarian at the San Benito County Free
Library, was surprised to hear the news that Pinnacle readers had
voted the library’s website, www.sanbenitofl.org, best in the
county.
”
We try to link the community not only to traditional information
with access to books, CDs, DVDs and a calendar of events,
”
she said.
”
We have a kid’s place, a teen’s place and our literacy
program.
”
Nora Conte, the county librarian at the San Benito County Free Library, was surprised to hear the news that Pinnacle readers had voted the library’s website, www.sanbenitofl.org, best in the county.
“We try to link the community not only to traditional information with access to books, CDs, DVDs and a calendar of events,” she said. “We have a kid’s place, a teen’s place and our literacy program.”
The site also includes information about other organizations such as the One-Stop Career Center.
“When the census was done, we put up information in English and Spanish,” she said. “We are about providing information to the public.”
The library’s website contains more than just the basic information on address, hours and upcoming events. The site has a homework help section that provides tutoring for students, a teen corner and even information on resumes and job hunting for adults. According to the website statistics, the website received 42,600 visits in the last fiscal year.
“We have gotten feedback,” Conte said. “We get reports on how many people are using the homework website. We believe the average is about 85 a month that visit the homework site just for kids.”
When the website was first started, Conte said the staff members worked collaboratively to create it.
“Our webpage is our window to the world,” she said.
Another librarian helped with the design “for a nominal fee.” She said the staff members come up with ideas for new content and they pay a small stipend to someone to help post updates.
“The website is just another avenue for our community to access information and we have a variety of users that wish to use the library in the way that is most comfortable to them,” Conte said. “There are those who want to get their info online, those who want to get it in the library and those who want to get it at bookmobile stops. We don’t just look at within the walls.”
