Free wireless service extended to the McCormick Branch

The free wireless access that has been available at the Waterloo Main Library has now been extended to the McCormick Branch Library at 500 Parkside Drive, in the Albert McCormick Community Centre.

“This is the next step in our ongoing commitment to provide free wireless access at all library locations,” says Chief Librarian Cathy Matyas, noting that free wireless will also be available at the new John M. Harper Branch Library when that facility opens at the corner of Fischer-Hallman and Laurelwood Drive in the spring of 2011.

Connections can be made simply and easily at the WPL Main Library and McCormick Branch through laptops and Wi-Fi enabled PDA (Personal Digital Assistants).

WPL’s wireless service is supported through a partnership with Atria Networks. Atria supports a number of community organizations in the Region, and provides high-capacity Internet connections to the Region’s municipalities, school boards and public libraries with a 700 km network of fibre-optic cable.

“It’s important that everyone in our community has access to the best available information, whether that is in print or electronic,” says Matyas.

Next month, WPL will be rolling out a collection of downloadable e-books which can be transferred to a Sony e-reader or a personal computer. The e-book collection, which is being made available in partnership with other local libraries, will include popular fiction and nonfiction, and both adult and children’s titles.

For more information, contact:  Cathy Matyas, Chief Librarian, at 519-886-1310 ext. 123