Worlds connect @ your library

The Alabama Connecting Families Project is a service that is being provided by 106 selected libraries across the state to enable military service families to use computers with webcams in public libraries to make a video telephone call to their loved ones who are overseas. The cameras will allow them to see each other, some for the first time in months. The project came about after Randy Hickman, a chief warrant officer in the Alabama National Guard, contacted Gov. Riley’s office and explained that, although he had broadband capabilities in Iraq, his family in rural Alabama did not. The project is made possible through $187,000 left over from a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation grant APLS received a few years ago.

This service is available at several Jefferson County library locations. Birmingham Public Central Library, Avondale Regional Library, Five Points West Regional, North Birmingham Regional, and Springville Road Regional Library. Other sites in Jefferson County are Bessemer Library, Gardendale, Homewood, Hoover and Trussville public libraries. Contact any of these locations for more information.