Library begins virtual virus updates tonight
The Garland County Library will begin a series of virtual updates for the COVID-19 pandemic with Garland County Health Officer Dr. Gene Shelby at 6 p.m. today via Facebook Live.
Paul Kagebein, the library’s Adult Services Programmer, said the updates with Shelby will differ from those conducted by Gov. Asa Hutchinson by having a local emphasis on aspects of the pandemic affecting Garland County more directly.
“( Shelby) will kind of give his spiel, and then I’ll have some questions prepared and the audience will be able to ask their questions via Facebook Live, and we’ll get to as many as we’re able to within the time we have,” Kagebein said.
“It’s just yet another platform for our local health professionals to be able to address people about this ongoing pandemic, and vice versa. It
gives an opportunity for the public to be able to have a chance to communicate with a local health professional about it.”
The live conversation with Shelby will immediately be saved to the library’s Facebook page, @garlandcountylibrary, and will later be uploaded to the library’s YouTube page, “Garland County Library.”
Kagebein said the purpose of the updates with Shelby is to provide clarity, rather than comfort, to the viewers.
“It’s not exactly the most comforting topic,” he said. “Sometimes we’ll hear good news, and there may be some events where the situation escalates; but no matter what the state of the pandemic is at any given moment, there will always be new information … in regards to how people can stay safe, the progress of treatment and the vaccine, what the projections are.”
In addition to the series of COVID-19 updates with Shelby, the library also plans to host a virtual Introduction to American Sign Language with Eddie Schmeckenbecher, the Student and Family Support Services director at the Arkansas School for the Deaf, at 6 p.m. Oct. 14 via Facebook Live. Schmeckenbecher has lately become more known as Hutchinson’s interpreter during his COVID-19 press briefings.
Kagebein said the library decided to host an event with Schmeckenbecher for two reasons.
“There’s a mix of both the fact that American Sign Language has been something that our patrons have been requesting we do a program on for awhile — so there is interest in the topic — and also the fact that Eddie Schmeckenbecher has become kind of a local celebrity, almost, frontiering in the governor’s press conferences as his interpreter.”
For more information on library events, visit gclibrary.com.