RR, Emo libraries get $3,850 for digital video players

By Michael Dawber
RR Library

The Emo and Rainy River public libraries have landed $3,580 from Ontario’s Cultural Strategic Investment Fund (CSIF) for a new kind of video viewer.
The viewers – called Playaway View – are an all-in-one digital video player pre-loaded with movies.
There’s no disc or tape to put in. The movies are computer files saved right on the hand-held player.

“The Playaway Views are going to be a great new format at our libraries,” says Rainy River Library CEO Michael Dawber.

“The Views don’t need batteries or headphones. Just plug them in, charge them up, and away you go.”
“The format is great for travelling,” says Dawber. “Families can take them anywhere, even to a cottage with no hydro.”
The libraries will be taking delivery of about 30 Playaway Views in the next few months.
There will be titles from National Geographic, PBS Kids, and Tumblebooks, among others.

Each library will start with half the Views, and then swap some every four months.
The exchange will last until 2013. That year, each library will keep half the Views permanently.

“Our success on this grant shows how small libraries in the Northwest can work together,” says Dawber.
The CSIF is supporting projects at libraries and other cultural groups around Ontario.