Great BYOD Event

Brookhaven Elementary held its Fall Family event from 5-7 PM on Thursday, October 17.  Along with Book Bingo and pizza offered by Title I, the library held a BYOD (bring your own device event) during which district and school technology staff and Title I teachers helped me download and install library and reading apps on parents' and students' smartphones, tablets and iPods.  More than 270 parents, grandparents and children attended the event. Although not all of these people brought devices for us to configure, many visited and learned about their options to access our libraries e-resources.

Among the items shared with our parents were:

• Destiny Quest app
• Catalist
• One Click Digital - via the West Virginia Library Commission

What made this venture a success was the collaborative spirit of all those who helped.  I knew I wanted to host a BYOD event even before school started.  When I heard about the Family Night, I developed this event to go along with it.

First, I contacted our county technology coordinator, Chris Urban, to see if she could provide "extra hands" for this event.  She indicated she would attend the event personally, and set up temporary wi-fi access to allow us to configure non-3G/4G devices. (The access was disabled the following day.)  About two weeks prior to the event, our Technology Integration Specialist, Christy Bryan-Davis, asked me to collaborate with her on a family night event.  I told her of my plans, and she agreed to work with me. Finally, our two Title I teachers, Marissa Glick and Brittany Snow, volunteered to help configure devices.

I wish I knew how many families we set up for digital services.  I do know that everyone at the event seemed very pleased with this offering. We will have to do this again!