Rockbridge Regional Library has introduced an outdoor student learning center called the Learning Hub to provide wifi for students who do not have it at home. Youth Services System Manager Carol E. Jones came up with the idea to start the Learning Hub.

With online learning these past few weeks, it’s sometimes hard to connect to the internet. Luckily for this county, students have somewhere to go for wifi. Jones has set up a tent outside of Rockbridge Regional Library that has easy access to wifi for kids who do not have it.  

“I saw some photos from New York City during the 1918 influenza Pandemic,” said Jones. “Schools were being held outdoors, on rooftops, and in parks. The children and teachers all wore masks, and it was so interesting to see people from a hundred years ago going through the same thing we are going through now.”  

With colder and nastier weather coming up, teachers have to find a plan to keep everyone safe.  

“Rainy days are no problem,” said Jones. “We will probably leave [the tent] up until it is time for snow.”  

The point of keeping an open space is so the air will not be infected, keeping kids safe. With the school board making the decision of going fully online so close to the start of school, they had to think of a plan quickly. 

 “The schools made their decisions about virtual learning fairly late in the summer, so we worked quickly,” said Jones.