Librarian uses drones to deliver books to students amid COVID-19

Librarian Kelly Passek and a drone used to deliver books to students (Images: screengrab from YouTube/Wing)

A librarian is using a drone delivery service to send books to students as they stay at home to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Kelly Passek has partnered with the company Wing, which started delivering books to her pupils in Virginia, USA, last Friday, June 12. Passek came up with the idea when schools in her area began shifting to remote learning, as per the service’s statement on the same day

“As a school librarian, it is extremely important to me to have connections with my students,” she said in a video posted on the company’s YouTube page.

She quickly shared her idea with Mark Miear, the superintendent of  Passek’s workplace, Montgomery County Public Schools. The school district then formed a partnership with the delivery service to fulfill students’ book requests via drones.

“Access to school library resources is essential for the success of our students,” Passek stressed.

She added that the effort helps them provide resources to their students so they can continue reading on their own while observing social distancing.

The service has been started on a limited trial basis. Families of students under the school district can request for any book from the library’s collection of over 150,000 titles and have it delivered to their homes via drone for free.  /ra

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