Black Tusk and Pinecrest can read Residents of Black Tusk and Pinecrest, 30 km south of Whistler, can now borrow books from Whistler Public Library thanks to a grant from the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD). Until the grant, those residents had to pay an annual $20 non-resident fee to use the library's facilities. SLRD has matched funding provided by the Resort Municipality of Whistler of $21 per person. Black Tusk and Pinecrest residents can now join the library free of charge when they show photo identification and proof of residence. In other library news, local systems consultant Carmen Tobias upgraded all the library's computers to Windows 95 with access to the internet and numerous CD-ROMs. As of June 4, there is no longer a charge for internet access, but e-mail is still not permitted. Word processing using Word 8 is available for $5 an hour and 50 cents a printed page. There is a children's computer available free with a nominal printing fee. More CD-ROMs have been added for this computer, including "Magic School Bus," math blaster, Sim City and children's encyclopedias. Whistler's library has linked with automated libraries across British Columbia. There are almost four million titles from which to make inter-library requests. For more information, call library director Joan Richoz at 932-5564.
