By Meghan O'Flaherty

It's 8:00 p.m., the library is closed, and you need to know how to write a cover letter. What do you do? The Jackson County Library has a solution for you. The library's new web page, www.jcls.org, puts all the information you need at your fingertips 24-hours a day. The website offers links to online nationwide job listings, sites like the Riley Guide that have instructions on how to write resumes and cover letters, the Oregon State Employment Department job listings and much more. You can also browse the library's catalog from your home computer, choose a book on any topic, and have it delivered to your closest branch library for pick-up within just a few days.

Imagine you're getting ready for a job interview and need some background information on the company. The library's website allows you to email a question to a reference librarian who can check the library's database containing information on hundreds of local companies and get back to you just in time for you to make a good impression at that interview! Now you can go online and email your question to a reference librarian.

If you're an employer, you may need job market information, salary comparisons, books on interviewing or motivational techniques, or wonder how you can list your jobs online. Perhaps you need to know how to apply for a patent or register a trademark. You can find all this and much more at www.jcls.org. The Jackson County librarians have searched the web for authoritative sites that answer many of the questions they hear every day including questions about careers, patents and trademarks, consumer information, cars & trucks, health, good books to read, songs & poems, genealogy and antiques & collectibles. All the sites are conveniently located within the library site. For kids, there are sites to answer questions about science experiments, state & country reports, Native American studies, The Oregon Trail, book reviews, and homework help. And if the answer's not there, there is a handy email form to send your question to a team of experienced reference librarians.

"We'll acknowledge your question as soon as possible, and let you know how long it will take to answer it," promises Gwyneth Ragosine, Senior Reference Librarian.

Librarians hope the new library website will help Jackson County residents reduce the time spent searching the overwhelming number of sites on the world wide web to find the information needed as well as the confusion many people feel over which sites offer accurate information.

"The web can be overwhelming to beginning surfers and old pros alike," says Reference Librarian Christine Perkins, "so when you're searching for great sites for yourself or your family, let a librarian lead the way."

Other features of the "Library without Walls" include information about the dates and locations of storytimes and special events; a form to send in suggestions for book titles you'd like the library to purchase; and information about library services like delivery to the homebound, outreach to daycare homes and parent groups, library tours, and special services for teachers and schools.

Library Director Ronnie Lee Budge calls the website "an extension of our library service."

"Keep checking us out [at http://www.jcls.org]. We will be continually morphing our site," says Kim Wolfe, Children's Librarian.