Ian Juarez BROWNSVILLE – The Brownsville Public Library system has brought back its Adult Computer Literacy classes this January by popular demand.
Under the library system, the Main Branch and Southmost branch locations have hosted the classes at no cost and open to the public to ages eighteen and older.
Bertha Gomez, librarian and instructor at the public library, shared a few programs that have been taught to help individuals navigate through the internet and gain digital knowledge.
“Every day we touch on a different topic. Some of them are programs, like from Microsoft Office. As in, like, using a spreadsheet, a PowerPoint, other times it’s showing them how to do searches or how to navigate the internet, what to watch out for and basically that or designing too because we use Canva.com,” Gomez said.
According to Gomez, the classes have built a community and shown positive results since its introduction to the public in 2022.
The Public Library shared several posts on its Facebook page to showcase standout moments from the class.
In one post, a student earned a NorthStar Digital literacy Certification by using the class to find an old photo of himself in an archive.
Another post showed several students with poster prints created on Canva.
Gomez also shared a success story from one of her students in his 60s and said she was proud of his accomplishment to overcome a barrier.
“An older gentleman in his 60s. He was in a wheelchair. And he was only able to use one of his hands. He stayed coming to our computer classes for more than a year and at the very beginning, I even had to help him sign in with his library card. He couldn’t even do that,” Gomez said. “But by the end of a year or so, he did it all by himself, and he started to learn how to navigate the internet and use it and I was really proud of him for doing that.”
The last Adult Computer Literacy Class will be offered on Jan. 27th in the Southmost Branch of the public library at 10:30 a.m. and in the main branch at 5 p.m.
For more information call (956) 548-1055 or visit the Brownsville’s Public Library System Facebook page.
