A new Sno-Isle Libraries program lets patrons check out laptops and wifi mobile hotspot devices just like library books.

With so much of life happening online, access to a computer and the internet has become increasingly important since the start of the pandemic.

All Sno-Isle branches on Whidbey have the technology available for checkout.

The libraries’ previous program confined laptop usage to library parking lots, but users are now allowed to take the devices home for a week at a time.

Like books, loans for the devices can be renewed if no one else is waiting for them.

All devices will be quarantined for 24 hours upon return.

“It can be checked out like any other book,” said Oak Harbor library associate Natasha Vanderlinden.

“It’s starting to build some momentum as people are finding more about it,” Vanderlinden said.

The Oak Harbor branch has five laptops and three wifi hotspot devices available to checkout, although Vanderlinden said the library can get more from other branches if there are people with holds.

The program is new this year, and people are still learning about it.

“It’s not really getting used as much as it could be,” Cynthia Kaul, who works at the Langley library, said of the program.

Patrons will need a valid library card to borrow a laptop or a hotspot device, and online-only library accounts are not included in the program.

Laptops come with a carrying bag and power cord, and have functioning webcam, microphone and speakers.

There are also instructions of how to connect the device to the internet and to access library services.

They have Microsoft Office 2016, Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge web browsers, Adobe Reader, and various image and audio editing software.

There is no disc drive on the laptops so users will need their own external CD/DVD drive, which the library does not have available to borrow.

Users will need to connect to their own internet or check out one of the library’s hotspot devices to get a mobile connection to the internet.

Each hotspot device comes in a case with a power cord and instructions, and can also be checked out for a week like the laptops.

There is a content filter on the devices but users can still access email and social media websites.

The Sno-Isle Libraries Foundation gave more than $96,000 to help pay for the laptops, and Sno-Isle Libraries received $50,000 in CARES Act funding to pay for the mobile wifi hotspot devices.