SEBRING- Library card holders can now borrow iPads for free.

The public library of Youngstown and Mahoning County recently launched a program that allows customers to rent the devices for a three-week period.

The program aims to provide access to technology to underserved members of the community.

“We’ve seen there’s an incredible need for internet access and devices in our communities right now, and we’ve seen that need grow during the pandemic,” said Maggie Henderson, communications manager. strategic for the Youngstown Public Library and Mahoning County. .

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The library launched a program in 2016 that allowed patrons to view mobile Wi-Fi hotspots and use them to access the internet at home.

Mobile hotspots have been popular with customers, Henderson said, and were the library’s most accessed item in 2021.

“Since we launched this program, we have noticed that there has been a growing waiting list for these devices,” she said.

In the midst of the pandemic, the library received approximately $171,000 in grants through a program created by the Federal Communications Commission to help defray the costs of laptops, tablets, and other technology-related purchases.

Henderson said the library used the money to buy 50 new mobile Wi-Fi hotspots, 150 iPads and to offset the cost of the existing 144 hotspots.

The devices can be used “for school, for work, to pay bills, to connect with family and friends, or just for entertainment,” she said.

iPad rentals started about six weeks ago. Henderson said the program was “a bit slow” and the library hopes to work with community partners to educate more customers about the opportunity.

Cindy Christani, supervisor at the Sebring Public Library, said the village branch permanently houses three iPads.

“They got out. Once the word got out, the traffic picked up,” she said.

One of the benefits of the program, Christani said, is that customers can use iPads and mobile hotspots simultaneously.

Like library books, the tablets can be transferred between branches to meet the needs of different areas, Henderson said.

“They’re in all the branches,” she said. “And if they are not currently in this branch, we can send one to this branch.”

Contact Paige at 330-580-8577 or [email protected], or on Twitter at @paigembenn.