Monday, Sep. 29, 2008

Pasco to continue Cyber Stop experiment

By Joe Chapman, Herald staff writer

It appears Pasco will spend another $15,000 to support kids' MySpace habits and other computer activities in east Pasco.

The city launched the Pasco Cyber Stop in the Kurtzman Building at 333 S. Wehe Ave. last October as a way to provide technology and Internet access to people who may not be able to afford computers at home.

The Pasco City Council last week indicated it agreed with the city staff's proposal that the city continue the experiment at least another year.

"The incentive for the council to undertake this experiment was born from a discussion about library service ... on the east and west ends of the city," City Manager Gary Crutchfield said.

The free neighborhood computer lab, open 20 hours a week, is a more affordable alternative to building additional libraries on different sides of town, he said. That choice is possible because trends show people moving more toward electronic sources of information at the expense of traditional book usage, he said.

"Conceivably you could have two or three satellite facilities in the community, strictly electronic," Crutchfield said. "So you avoid these large, expensive warehouses for books. That's essentially what they (libraries) are -- a warehouse for books that people can then check out."

The city's dues to the Mid-Columbia Library District are about $1.1 million a year. The city spent $12,500 to set up the Pasco Cyber Stop and another $15,000 to operate it for the first year.

A staff report showed 1,771 people used the lab during its first 11 months, including 73 adults.

Most of the users were school children ages 7 to 15, and the most common types of activities were games and social-networking Internet sites such as MySpace and Facebook. Of the 6,209 total visits to the Cyber Stop, 2,846 were for games and 1,452 were for social-networking.

Users did homework 152 times, e-mail 14 times, searched for jobs 21 times and worked on resumes four times, among other types of activities.

Upon receiving the report, Mayor Joyce Olson expressed initial dissatisfaction.

"I'm pleased to see it's being used by students and teens, but I'm not pleased with the results that it seems to be primarily social networking that it's used for," she said.

But others on the council argued that the city's investment was worthwhile.

Councilman Al Yenney pointed out that while the kids were playing on the computers, they weren't out on the streets.

Councilwoman Rebecca Francik, a librarian in the Pasco School District, vouched for the educational benefits even of social-networking sites and games.

Young people who use MySpace learn how to upload data, transfer files and create websites as well as enhance their ability to read, type and edit -- helping them perform well in college and even in high school, she said.

"So those are all skills that will serve them well," Francik said.

Last year the city expected Educational Service District 123 to partner with the city and use the lab as a Parent Information Resource Center, but that function never got off the ground, said Stan Strebel, administrative and community services director for Pasco.

So the city's Recreational Services Department will work in the second year to develop programs for the Cyber Stop that will fill that gap and hopefully get more adults using the facility, Strebel said.