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More than just books at the base library

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Kali L. Gradishar
  • 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. --  There are a vast array of services available to members of Team Fairchild at the base library. If base personnel would journey into the adventurous world of words and images set forth by the library's resources, they would find a myriad of information available through hardback and paperback books, testing materials, microfilms filled with historical editions of the base newspaper, and much more.

"We have a three-pronged mission here," said Sherry Hokanson, the base library director. "Number one is to provide support to the Air Force mission through publications used in the 32 offices we support.

"Number two is to support higher education for those engaged in pursuing degrees on base or through distance learning," she said.

The base library supports higher education by not only providing published reading material in the forms of the hardback and paperback books settled neatly on the shelves, but also through the testing materials available for the College Level Examination Program and Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Support (more widely known as the CLEP and DANTES tests), a number of online databases, journals and jury publications available on the library's laboratory computers.

There are more than 60 titles devoted to CLEP and DANTES tests that can assist members of Team Fairchild with pushing forward with their degree. The tests can be used toward degrees through the Community College of the Air Force, or through an accepting two or four year school on or off base.

There are also testing materials on DVD and VHS, testing information for the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test and Air Force Officer Qualifying Tests, and civil service testing materials for careers in areas such as postal work, law enforcement and criminal justice.

"Number three is to provide quality of life support for military members, families, retirees and Department of Defense civilians," said Ms. Hokanson. "That includes best sellers, movies on DVD and VHS, books on CD and tape, and access to the e-books."

The e-books service is provided to members of Team Fairchild to allow them to access approximately 4,000 titles via the internet.

Along those same lines, free wireless internet is now available in the base library and the library's catalog is now available online. In the future the online catalog will be revamped to allow users to place a book on hold or renew checked-out books through a new integrated library system.

These are just a few things members of Team Fairchild can look forward to when they step through the doors at the base's library. Venture into the world of words and you'll never know what you might learn.

(This is the first in a series on services and events available at the base library.)