Working History Display at Mid-Continent Public Library

It used to be you walked into a library and searched through dusty card catalogs and stacks of books listed by author and title. There were a few computers available where you could look up local job market information or post your resume. Today, technology brings you interactive digital screens – a much more engaging way to experience a coremessage and assimilate information.

The Mid-Continent Public Library of Independence, Missouri recently used interactive digital screens as part of its “Working History” presentation. At the touch of the screen, visitors see and hear interviews with real working people like Southwestern Bell Telephone employee Claudia McCarthy and Armco Steel worker Keith Ploeger. They can also touch a button, which plays a general overview of the city’s employment history from early settler days to the industrial era, narrated by Jackson County Historical Society’s David Jackson.