New technology upgrades have made their way to the Polk County Library, including a photo scanner for patrons to digitize their photos at the Bolivar location.
The library’s new photo scanner is available for patron use during library hours. The scanner, which can digitize documents and photo negatives, is available to the public for free.
The new photo scanner which was installed and ready for use in February 2022, can be used by anyone who wants to create and save an electronic copy of their photos. The scanner is also available to patrons who have library cards at the other Polk County Libraries.
“The images produced with the Epson scanner are much clearer and color true than those produced by the document scanner on the multifunction printer, which is the only other document scanner available for use,” said Tiffany Taylor, Polk County Library assistant director and grant writer.
Taylor said the scanner is located in the “genealogy alcove at the Bolivar Library,” and someone will be available to help with the equipment if assistance is needed.
“The addition of the photo scanner allows for more of a full-service experience in the genealogy section,” Taylor said. “The idea behind adding the photo scanner was to create a makerspace station rather than a genealogical research station.”
Patrons will also be able to access Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Essentials software to edit their digitized photos, Taylor said. They can create slideshows and videos on the computer in the genealogy alcove.
“Patrons must use their library card to sign in to the computer, or if they do not have a library card, they can provide an ID to acquire a guest pass,” Taylor said.
Patrons will have access to the library computers for two hours per day in a one hour increment.
Other upgrades
The photo scanner was one of many recent technology upgrades at the Polk County Library after it received a technology mini-grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
According to Taylor, the grant was for $5,951.
“The Polk County Library seeks out Library Services and Technology Act grant opportunities in order to provide quality service to our patrons and Polk County communities,” she said.
A few of the other upgrades include a two quantity HP ProOne 600 All-in-One computer station — one to replace the Fair Play staff computer and one to replace the genealogy alcove computer.
“The Fair Play computer was an older model Lenovo tower and the genealogy computer was an even older Dell tower,” Taylor said.
The Polk County Library also replaced six 1D scanners with Honeywell Voyager XP 2D barcode scanners — three 1D barcode scanners at the Bolivar location and one 1D scanner at each of the other three library branches — Fair Play, Humansville and Morrisville.
“The 2D barcode scanners give library staff the ability to scan the barcode or a patron’s library card from their phone screen — for users that use the MO Evergreen app rather than carry a physical card. Our 1D scanners could only read linear barcodes from a surface with no backlighting.”
For more information contact the Polk County Library at (417)326-4531. Visit the library website at www.polkcolibrary.org.
The Bolivar Library is located at 1690 W Broadway, Bolivar, MO 65613. They are open Mondays through Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and closed on Sundays.
