As I talked to individual volunteers, I saw the same sense of pride in the community and in the information the volunteer makes available to others in the area. Adding public access to the Internet seems to be a very big drawing card for Hometown Countryside Connection libraries. Students use covers both education and recreation. Senior citizens are discovering Internet service and using it for continuing education and personal research as well as recreation. The Internet offers new resources for health services that are not available in many small libraries.
Many libraries see an increase in male patrons.
Activities include both professional and volunteer organizations that are participating in Internet Activities. Response by individual patrons is enthusiastic in every community. Most patrons have no difficulty using the Internet, so library staff provides minimal training beyond showing a patron how to access the Internet. Libraries are seeing daily Internet usage increase as word spreads about access in the library and the public becomes familiar with using the Internet. The technical support provided by Infobahn Outfitters of Macomb gave this project stability.