In a year of a centennial celebration, Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library (BHML) looks back on its 100 years of service to the community. This article focuses on technology offerings of the past 30 years. In 1994, BHML obtained internet service, marking a pivotal point in the library’s history – ushering in the digital age.

Bethany Schmidt, the library’s programs and technology manager, works at the intersection of information, technology and lifelong learning. She sat down with the Register to talk about BHML’s services.

“One-on-one sessions are my favorite. It’s fun to be able to help and it’s a new experience for me every time, like solving a mystery with someone,” said Schmidt. “Our community has lots of questions about technology. It can be hard to keep up. When COVID-19 forced people to stay in touch through technology, many people felt alone and isolated, and there was pressure to use technology that many of our community members had never used before. The one-on-one sessions really took off then.” Anyone can book a one-on-one session by calling 207-633-3112, emailing, or signing up on the website.

Schmidt also participates in Traveling Tech, which meets people in offsite locations such as the Community Center to answer questions about technology and information resources.

“If I can help, I do,” said Schmidt. Topics she’s covered in the past range from general learning; smartphone features, operating system basics, iPads/tablets, MS Office, Google Suite, to entertainment-based applications, social media, Kindle/e-readers, Spotify & Pandora for listening to music; video conferencing (Skype, Zoom, Google Meet), and BHML specific offerings such as accessing the CloudLibrary, Hoopla, e-books, audiobooks, and Minerva (a consortium enabling library patrons to borrow from the collections of over 50 Maine libraries).

“The Tech Talk lectures are unifying. Everyone who attends is in the same boat: They want to learn something new but have limited access to the subject or technology,” she said. The Register attended the most recent talk, Demystifying A.I., which was well attended and, after a brief lecture, attendees got to play with generative AIs like ChatGPT, Grammarly and Adobe’s Generative Fill (AI-enhanced Photoshop).

Our Library of Things is also tech-centric, Schmidt said. “You can try out tech without investing in them first, or just use them without purchasing – some are expensive.” Items in the Library of Things include a telescope, YoTo players, GoPros, professional audio recorders, projectors, Chromebooks, Kindles, a ring light, and more.

BHML offers free Wi-Fi, with no password needed on the library campus. There are three public computers, three public Chromebooks, and patrons can print, fax, scan, and copy from the shared resources either for free or for a small per-page fee. From the library’s website, anyone can test their critical thinking skills via a downloadable CRAAP test, check facts through online fact-checkers, and learn best practices for discerning the reliability of online sources.

“I spend a lot of time thinking about our needs in the next decade. I think about next-gen homebound needs, pop-up internet, and that led to our two new lendable internet hot spots,” said Schmidt.

“Also, the cloud library is a very different collection than the physical library inventory,” she said. “Members access both with the same library card and the cloud contains collections from other partnered libraries. Of course, paper books are still alive and strong. Teens are reading more than ever and as a result, middle grade and young adult markets are exploding.” The Hoopla suite offers streaming movies, music, comics, e-books, audiobooks and the online language learning resource Mango. MARVEL! is another collection available, containing authoritative sites for journals, articles, encyclopedias, and other online learning curricula.

“BHML boasts one of the highest percentages of large print books for the visually impaired in the state, and we purposefully build the collection because it’s so popular in our community,” Schmidt said. “We also offer accessibility and accommodation requests on an individual basis. Just make an appointment with me and we’ll find the right tech to help people read and support lifelong learning.”