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MORGANTOWN - Gretchan Utzman began her job as the The Morgantown Public Library's "digital navigator" last week as a guide for aging populations to better understand technology as society evolves.
The pilot program was announced in April by the Morgantown County Commission, in which $50,000 would be allocated to the library for digital education resources.
The initiative is part of Mon County's $8 million allocation of the American Rescue Plan Act, COVID-19 relief funding, to improve broadband access.
James Spears, assistant director, said the program has launched nationally, but it was spearheaded in Mon county by Library Director Sarah Cranston. He said the goal of the project is to help community members understand emerging technologies to help them access federal programs, apply for jobs or communicate with others.
"There's a lot of big pushes to get broadband access to different people in rural areas that have low connectivity," Spears said. "We have a good number of patrons who come in, they might be older patrons who just are not as familiar with technology. They might just not use technology in their day-to-day life."
Spears said the Digital Navigation services are free for all ages. He hopes the program will be able to provide helpful, unique advice for local consumers whenever they need it, which will include drop-in services and an advice call line.
"We've learned that when it comes to digital literacy, the best way to engage people is to help them solve a problem or do something that they need rather than trying to offer a blanket course," he said.
The services are available at all five Monongalia county library locations.
Spears stressed that the library's goal is to make daily life easier for citizens.
"There's a surprising number of people who either come in and say they have no digital literacy or digital literacy at some varying level, but it's important for everyone to feel confident and comfortable using the Internet, their computer, their phone, just because it's a part of daily life," Spears said.
Morgantown native and recent WVU graduate Utzman is optimistic about her new role. She said she is planning upcoming learning sessions with local senior citizen centers, creating "how-to" videos county residents can access at any time and an online voting registration workshop.
She also urged citizens to get ahead of the curve when it comes to digital literacy and skill improvements, as technology is only going to get more complex.
"How online our world is now, how much we have to rely on the Internet and digital spaces just for daily tasks, I think it's really important to have this program to help people get connected with those things so that they're able to fully participate in our modern landscape," she said.
She hopes that one day, all of Mon county will soon have widespread broadband access.
Visit the Mon county library website for updates on the program https://mympls.org/.