New Libraries Offer New Way of Learning
Amid the many gradations of melancholy that is impoverished West Englewood, there is the public library.
Derrick Durr, a 22-year-old aspiring boxer, hovered over a computer last week, helping his aunt find work. So many employment applications are now done online that the challenge is great for those who are on the wrong side of the digital divide.
Shortly before noon, most of the computers were being used by adults who are jobless. They were creating résumés and e-mail accounts, and filling out applications. They were also applying for assistance programs, rather than trooping to a government office, said Alicia Henry, one of the system’s “cybernavigators” and a Jennifer Hudson look-alike.
That Mr. Durr and his aunt were doing this there is no small feat since this strip of West 63rd Street was