PGIN targets more i-hub users

LAOAG CITY, May 28 – The provincial government of Ilocos Norte has launched a program to promote its I-hub center being housed at the Laoag Centennial Arena along the university belt or the so-called SIRIB mile here.

Dubbed as “Magbasa, Mag-internet at Manalo,” the new provincial library program which started last February will give free reading materials and other surprise gifts to the first five clients of the month who will make use of the center’s internet facility.

Matilde Neri, chief of the I-hub and officer-in-charge of the education department of the capitol, added that the first five clients, who are registered readers in the library, are also given the same prizes.

According to Neri, the I-hub center has eight service areas but the past records from the library showed that the most visited section is the internet and multimedia section with an average of 765 users a month.

She said the reason for the rising number of users in the section was due to the free internet usage and film viewing.

The free internet promo was later revised after the amendment of the Local Revenue Code of Ilocos Norte which imposed P10 an hour for the internet user or lower than the internet rate of private computer shops.

Other most visited sections and their average users a month are serials with 516 users; the new kids and teens section with 445 users; and the main circulation section with 234 users.

Neri said that the new library promo program will end on December 2014.
The I-hub facility is open from 8am to 7pm on weekdays and 1pm to 5pm on weekends.

To expand the services of the I-hub center, the provincial government plans to set–up branches in the first and second districts of the province to establish better internet access for the students. (FREDDIE G. LAZARO)