Library computers

Guidance on using public computers

Hampshire Libraries offer a variety of services for the whole community to use. We ask you to be respectful to our team and customers when visiting our premises by following the guidelines outlined below:

• Always treat our team and other customers with respect and courtesy
• Treat the building with respect, use the facilities for the purposes they were intended and tidy any areas you have used when finished
• To keep children safe, children under the age of eight must be accompanied and supervised by a parent, carer, or responsible adult, in all areas of the library
• Be respectful to others by not using offensive language
• Our team will try to answer all enquiries promptly. However, as public libraries are busy places, if the support you require will take a significant amount of time our staff may suggest booking an appointment at a mutually convenient time
• Smoking is not permitted inside the library, this includes the use or charging of e-cigarettes
• Be respectful and do not enter the building whist under the influence of drugs or alcohol to the extent you are unable to care for yourself or pose a risk to other library customers. Drugs are not permitted onsite. Alcohol is not permitted onsite other than for pre-arranged events
• Treat all resources in the library with respect and advise our team of any accidental damage
• Familiarise yourself and follow the Library and IT regulations, policies, and procedures
• Only registered service animals are allowed in our buildings and grounds
• Tell us if things go wrong at the earliest opportunity so we can improve our services
• Children and young people aged 8 to 15 inclusive can use a computer independently, provided that a parent or guardian has signed a form giving permission and agreed to the conditions of use on their behalf. To set this up the parent or guardian must visit a library. Children may be asked to show their library membership card to prove they have permission to use the computers

Help and support

Where possible, library staff will try to help you use the library computers. The support they can offer will depend on the resources and staff available at that time, and is at the discretion of library staff.

Staff need to balance the needs of all users in all areas of the library service and it is therefore not always possible to provide the same level at support at all libraries. We can advise where computer training is available locally and to suggest books to help you.

We will offer assistance whenever possible with:

• logging on and finding software to use
• simple printing and scanning
• simple copying to memory stick
• finding an online training programme (BBC Webwise or similar)
• simple information searching
• simple downloading from websites
• logging in to an existing web-based email account (but not resetting passwords)
• entering an email address
• MS Office software such as Word and Excel
• opening, closing and saving files