Librarian Uses Drones to Deliver Books

A school librarian has been using drones to deliver books to students amid the coronavirus pandemic. Kelly Passek is a librarian for the Montgomery County Public Schools in Virginia. Because remote learning makes it difficult for students to access libraries, Passek came up with the idea to send books to students by drone. In an interview, she said that having access to resources from the library helps students do well in school and life. She added that finding the means to get learning materials to children should be a priority now, considering that stringent quarantine guidelines are posing many difficulties. Passek got the idea of delivering books using drones from Wing, a company that offers and develops drone-based delivery services. She used Wing’s service to have essential goods conveniently delivered to her house. Passek then realized that the service could be used to fulfill library book requests. She proposed the idea to a school administrator, and it was immediately approved. Students can borrow books from the library by filling out a form on the school's website. After Passek processes the requests, she endorses the books to Wing for delivery. According to Passek, her school district is the first to use Wing to deliver library books to students. She shared that the school community is excited to experience this unique way of delivering materials to students. Before the official launch of the service, the school held a trial period. The trial was a success, and now all students can have books from the library's collection of over 150,000 titles delivered right to their doorstep.