Located at 357 Buck Road, Quarryville, the Quarryville Library now offers a digital literacy and workforce development program through a partnership with Millersville University. To the best of Quarryville Library program manager Sharon Roche's knowledge, this is the first time that the library has partnered with a university.

Prior to launching the program, Millersville University created the Office of Community Engagement, Governmental, and Economic Development with the purpose of helping adults, the local community, and nontraditional students. Staff in the new office researched statistics regarding technology education, learning access, and broadband networking, and realized that the areas surrounding the Quarryville Library and Adamstown Library were in need of assistance. When the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry began accepting applications for the digital literacy and workforce development program grant, the university applied and was eventually named the recipient.

Through the program, the Quarryville Library provides free computer and digital literacy training, which focuses on providing skills to assist participants in job seeking and job performance. To accomplish these objectives, there is a combination of in-person instruction and online course content. The program is intended to increase comfort with and experience in online learning with the hope of creating opportunities for lifelong learning and skill-building.

Millersville University grant program assistant Aubrey Laity will be at the Quarryville Library on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Thursdays from 3 to 7 p.m. to instruct individuals enrolled in the program, answer questions, and provide more information.

"I work in-person with the participants of the grant," said Laity, noting that she has seen first hand the need for the program and the impact it can have.

The program consists of three courses, which teach keyboard skills, other computer skills for the workplace, and how to conduct a job search.

Roche noted that the library offered digital programs remotely in the past, but attendance was low. "We can imagine that people are not able to train for these jobs at home (because they don't have internet access), but the library is a great place to offer this program," said Roche. "We have computers, we have Wi-Fi, and now we have Aubrey."

The program is intended for people age 18 or older who are unemployed, underemployed, or seeking a new career path. They should expect to commit approximately four hours per week from now until Sept. 30. Participants must also reside in the Quarryville Borough or the townships of Bart, Colerain, Drumore, East Drumore, Eden, Fulton, Little Britain, Martic, or Providence.

There is rolling enrollment, and people can register by contacting Laity at 717-871-5951 or aubrey.laity@millersville.edu. To learn more about the Quarryville Library, visit http://www.quarryvillelibrary.org.