When John Mazurek, a member of local knitting club that meets weekly at the library, moved away last December, his leaving inspired the group to become crafty in more ways than one.
“We wanted to stay in touch with John, and we knew the library offers all types of technology classes, " says Margaret Balazs, one of fifteen women who make up the remainder of the class. “So on a whim I called and asked, ‘Can you teach us how to Skype?’”
The answer was “yes.” Through a new library service called Tech à la Carte, Digital Services Manager Amy Pelman scheduled a Skype class just for them in the Training Center.
“How are the socks coming along,” the ladies joked when their tutorial resulted in a Skype connection with John more than 2,000 miles away in Salem, Oregon. Screen to screen, the friends caught up, and John even gave them a tour of his new home using his laptop camera. "This is so fun,” said Arlington Heights resident Anna Sayles.
Does Tech à la Carte work for your group?
• Designed for groups of 4–12 people
• Must be scheduled by an Arlington Heights cardholder, other participants need not be
• Please schedule at least 2 weeks in advance
• Classes available on 60+ tech topics
If interested in a small group tech class, please call 847-506-2674.