Perry Public Library Director Mary Murphy met about a dozen local residents in the library’s central atrium Monday morning and demonstrated how to use several of the library’s free databases.
Murphy’s technology workshop highlighted databases available through the library’s website, including Bridges eLibrary, Transparent Languages, Freegal Music and several Dallas County newspaper archives.
“It went really well,” Murphy said. “A lot of these things we’ve had for a long time, and one of the goals I have for this year is to raise the community’s awareness of our databases that are available 24-7 online. You can check out virtual ebooks, audio books, learn a language and listen to music — all at 2 a.m. in the morning.”
Murphy said the Monday morning workshop covered Freegal, a free music download service, Bridges, a source for free ebooks, and Transparent Languages, a 17-language self-directed study course.
Murphy said Monday’s attendees learned a lot and most will return for a second session Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
“They were very interested,” Murphy said, “and what we didn’t cover today was the newspaper archives, and that will be our program for Thursday.”
The Monday workshop was free and held before the library opened for regular business hours. Thursday’s session will be held while the library is open and will also be free and open to the public.