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Kent County Public Library to close for technology upgrades

The Kent County Library will undergo an extensive technology upgrade starting next week.

The Kent County Library in Dover will close its doors from Monday, December 16 at 2 p.m. until Wednesday, December 18 while the Delaware Division of Libraries IT Department brings its computers up to standards.

“We are going from Windows 7 to Windows 10, which is what is most commonly used in most offices now; the same thing with Microsoft Office - we’re going from 2013 to 2016,” said Denise Cayz, the supervisor of library circulation.

 

She says the upgrades are beneficial for all library patrons.

 

“So when our patrons come in to do their resumes or to refresh their memories on how to use Office, we have all the latest and greatest on what’s going to be in the working world,” said Cayz.

Hillary Welliver is the librarian for the Kent County Public Library. She notes there is another significant piece to the upgrade.

 

“We are replacing the local network hardware and we’re cleaning up the network cabling to transition to new fiber optic vendors. And we have a workstation PC replacement," said Welliver. "All of the State supplied PC’s are going to be replaced with Dell desktops (21 total) or laptops (10 total).”

Welliver says during the closure, the mobile library will provide its regular service. 

The upgrades costs a total of $40,000 and are being paid for through a State contract.

 

State Librarian Annie Norman notes the Kent County Public Library is getting 21 desktop computers, 10 laptops and one brand new printer.

Norman says the state allocates $600,000 a year to the Delaware Division of Libraries for replacement of computers and peripherals at libraries statewide.

Kelli Steele has over 30 years of experience covering news in Delaware, Baltimore, Winchester, Virginia, Phoenix, Arizona and San Diego, California.