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Ladies of the Greenville Study Club opened the Greenville-Butler County Public Library in 1932 to provide library service for the community. 

Today, the library operates under the direction of a county-wide library Board of Trustees, offering books, services, and classes like the basic computer class, which will resume on Jan. 12.

According to Director Kevin Pearcey, the library has hosted computer classes in this past, but beginning in January, training will be offered at an ongoing basis. Space will be limited to around 10 learners, with a focus toward helping adults learn to navigate beginner computer skills.

“It’s going to be a basic computer class, teaching people how to use computers,” Pearcey said. “We have a lot of people around who don’t know how to use a computer. They know how to use a phone but not a computer.”

Patrons who visit the library to use public computers can request assistance, Pearcey said. However, staff availability is limited, and some user information is sensitive, requiring caution to keep personal information safe.

“A lot of information is personal,” Pearcey said. “We don’t want the liability of looking into people’s health information or bank records. Instead, we give people the tools to access what they need.”

Pearcey said he plans to instruct the class, teaching what learners request to learn instead of following a set curriculum.

“Training will be very basic, starting with how to use a mouse,” Pearcey said. “People are familiar with a [phone] touch screen, but they need to be familiar with the mouse because that’s still one of the predominant ways we interact with a computer. We’ll go over how to get on the internet, search the internet and use a word processor and email.”

The goal is to help users, especially the library’s elderly patrons, become comfortable with using a computer, Pearcey noted. The class will not discuss computer repairs or programming, but learners will practice internet and email safety while discovering how to navigate current technology.

“We want to stress that if people are going to get familiar with the computer, they have to use it,” Pearcey said. “They’re not going to break it. We see a lot of elderly who think they may touch something and wipe the hard drive. But you really have to go out of your way to mess up a computer.”

The computer class is one of many learning opportunities available at the library. Others include a summer reading program, a crochet club, Toddler Tuesday, Super Saturday, and a Dungeons and Dragons group as well as books, periodicals, eBooks, and kits for learning to play a guitar or ukulele.

For more information, contact the library at (334) 382-3216.