A second lab was established at the High Point branch in a public housing project. The lab is used heavily by children after school. She described the delight of a young Somali girl, daughter of immigrant parents who do not yet speak English, who learned word processing and found information in the lab for a paper. The student earned an A-plus grade for the project from her teacher. The Central Library Community Learning Lab has been used for group exploration of Internet resources and training.
Librarians invite community organizations to the lab, provide instruction, and initiate dialogue.
Their librarian colleagues observe the sessions, and in the process learn about teaching technique and how people want to use computers and electronic information. With the expansion of online services, whether delivered at the library, home, school, office, or community center, individuals may seek information anonymously, on their own terms and for their own purposes. There have been many examples of successful use of the library's online systems. For example, through the Internet, one user found a scholarship and a student loan forgiveness program just five weeks before the start of school. This enabled her sister, a public school teacher and a parent, to begin graduate studies.