Hampton Park Library
Our new county library opened. It’s a miracle. It was scheduled to open this past Fall, then delayed. And since something seems to always go wrong with a new municipal service, I had expected it to be delayed again and open eventually. Not so. I am happy that my pessimism was unwarranted.
I didn’t give much thought to how entirely convenient it is to have a library five miles from the house. It’s almost on on my way to and from DDs school. I might drive a mile or two out of my way to get there. But that’s incredibly close compared to driving fifteen miles one way with no other reason to be in that location.
The wifi sucks, however. And in the area near the children’s section, there are tiny chairs and tables, and one lounge area for grown-ups that is not conducive to laptop use. I made it work. But it wasn’t comfortable. I downloaded a document for an alternate setup to connect with the counties wifi. I hope that I can configure it next week, and that it will work consistently, rather than intermittently.
I saw several college or high school looking students with laptops. If I have time, I’ll inquire of somebody else with a laptop if they have good service. I have found that asking the library staff yields very friendly dialogue, and an absolute dearth of useful technical information.
I could use the library computers. But that rather defeats the purpose of owning a laptop where I can have all of my information, instead of just what is hosted. Also, part of what prompted me to have a laptop is that the library computers have annoying pop-up screens reminding me of how many minutes I have left, do I want to renew, blah, blah. It’s distracting.
On the other side of the library, nowhere near the children’s section are rows and rows of computers and laptop hosting stations. That’s terrific if you’re studying for an exam and don’t want to be disturbed. But it isn’t great for me who wants to go there after school with my child and work while she browses the children’s books.
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