Free Computer Classes Open to All Ages at Des Plaines Library

The following information was submitted by Gwen LaCosse of the Des Plaines Public Library.

In a nursing home in a nearby suburb lives an older gentleman who has become a frequent caller to the reference desk at the Des Plaines Public Library.

While I am not at liberty to mention his name, I can say he has the wherewithal to learn to operate a computer. Without a doubt, he has the requisite curiosity to do so. In the absence of a computer, he has asked my reference desk colleagues and me many questions over many months. These include trying to find people from his youth and family. I really think he'd get a kick out of searching the Internet/Web on his own.

Point being, if you or someone you know could benefit from computer classes offered at the Des Plaines Public Library, please pass the word along. Perhaps it’s a family member, a friend or acquaintance, or a friend of a friend of a friend. Someone who has tried to learn, but their children or grandchildren aren't the most patient computer teachers. Maybe it’s someone who has been afraid to try, period. Not only does the library have computer classes, they are free. The price is right; computer classes at no charge.

Don't say you're too old to work a computer. Age is just not a viable excuse. I've heard that one before at the reference desk. You can be 100 years young and more, and if you want to learn how to use a computer, we will teach you. You don't even have to live in Des Plaines. You don't even have to own a computer — you can practice and work on the library's public computers.

The library offers a wide array of one-time computer classes, an hour-and-a-half long, which can be taken multiple times. These include the basic skills course, for people who may have never touched a computer or done so sparingly, to instruction at a more challenging level. Call or come to the library's reference desk for a brochure that lists our classes: (847) 376-2841. Registration for computer classes in January 2013 starts soon — Saturday, Dec. 15 — so don’t delay.

Why not give yourself, or someone else, the gift of knowledge in this coming year?

With respect to our regular caller from the nursing home, I'm hoping against hope that someone will at least lend him a laptop computer and show him how to use it. He deserves at least that much for 2013.

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