Part 4 of my site visit to Auburn Public Library - Community Connections

In my interview with Lynn, APL's Director, she mentioned that the library is linked to to an intiative called the LearningExpress Library. According to the Maine State Library's website (http://www.maine.gov/msl/commons/learnxp/index.shtml), "Learning Express Library is an interactive online learning platform featuring over 770 practice tests, tutorials, and eBooks related to job search and workplace skills improvement" as well as resources related to educational enhancement ranging from improvement of basic reading, writing, and math skills, to preparing for secondary or graduate school admission. A person choosing to use this resource will get immediate results including a score and an analysis of that score.

LearningExpress Library is funded by the Maine State Library's Broadband Technology Opportunity Program (BTOP) grant, and is an excellent example of an innovative, technology-based collaboration aimed at community members who can benefit from its services.

From APL's website, you can also find the Maine InfoNet Download site where you can access a huge variety of eBooks. If you don't have an e-reader, APL currently has three that they lend to patrons.

And finally, Lynn also announced one recent collaboration as of this past September - that of www.LibraryLA.org. No, not Los Angeles! LA as in Lewiston-Auburn. According to a September 28, 2012 article by Scott Taylor in the Sun Journal entitled "Twin Cities unveil digital library branch," the site "combines the most popular Internet services available at the two libraries in one place" (that is, Auburn Public Library and Lewiston Public Library). These cities have a history of collaborative ventures, so this comes as no surprise.

Some of the services to access and explore from the site include Maine InfoNet (mentioned above), MARVEL (Maine's Virtual Library), Heritage Quest (for genealogical purposes), Tumblebooks (ebooks for children), and Freegalmusic ("a free and legal music downloading site").

In Parts 1 through 4, we've taken a look at some of what you can find at and connected to the Auburn Public Library. The next post will reflect on those discoveries.