Chromebooks

Chrome­books are sim­i­lar to lap­tops with Google’s Chrome oper­at­ing sys­tem. They are most use­ful when con­nect­ed to the inter­net and logged in to a Google account. 

Chrome­books may be checked out for three weeks. Any DeKalb Coun­ty Pub­lic Library card­hold­er age 18 and old­er is able to check one out. This pro­gram is cur­rent­ly avail­able at these libraries.

To check out a Chromebook: 

  1. Click here or call a par­tic­i­pat­ing branch to check avail­abil­i­ty, and sched­ule a time to check out.
  2. Vis­it the branch.
  3. Read and com­plete the paper­work. Take the Chromebook. 

Come into the branch to return the Chromebook:

  • A Chrome­book checks out for three weeks with up to three renewals based on avail­abil­i­ty. They must be returned or renewed at the ser­vice desk of the branch where it was checked out. Chrome­books cannot­ be returned in the book­drop or to anoth­er branch.
  • If not returned on the due date, the Chrome­book will be deac­ti­vat­ed and will no longer work until brought back to the branch and reinstated.

Chrome­books allow you to browse the inter­net, check email and use online pro­duc­tiv­i­ty soft­ware, like Google’s GSuite or Microsoft 365. When using a library Chrome­book, know that:

  • You do not need to dis­in­fect the Chrome­book as staff are doing this. Dis­in­fect­ing and clean­ing the Chrome­book may dam­age it. 
  • You need to cre­ate and sign in to your per­son­al account to access online pro­duc­tiv­i­ty soft­ware and save your work. 
  • You need to use a flash dri­ve or be con­nect­ed to the inter­net and signed in to your account to save any work. You can­not save any­thing to the Chromebook. 
  • You need to nav­i­gate using a touch­pad, which takes the place of a mouse. 
    • To move the point­er, move your fin­ger across the pad. 
    • To click, tap the low­er part of the touchpad. 
    • To right click, tap the touch­pad with two fingers. 
    • For more help, see this page.
  • You can also use key­board short­cuts to quick­ly do cer­tain things. For a list­ing of these, see this page.

To learn more about Chromebooks:

Patrons may use the Chrome­book and access the inter­net at their own dis­cre­tion. Although many valu­able sources of infor­ma­tion are avail­able via the inter­net, the Library can nei­ther ver­i­fy the accu­ra­cy nor con­trol the con­tent of mate­r­i­al found. Fur­ther­more, while using a library Chrome­book, under­stand that:

  • Fail­ure to return the Chrome­book and/​or dam­age to it will result in being billed for the replace­ment cost of the device — up to $350.
  • Recon­fig­ur­ing the Chrome­book is not allowed.
  • Patrons cre­ate, use and store per­son­al data, includ­ing all files, fold­ers and media, at their own risk, and DeKalb Coun­ty Pub­lic Library is not respon­si­ble for any loss.
  • Use of the Chrome­book for ille­gal pur­pos­es is express­ly for­bid­den, in accor­dance with applic­a­ble legal statutes.
  • Use of the Chrome­book to access mate­r­i­al that is obscene as defined under Geor­gia law (O.C.G.A. 161280), child pornog­ra­phy as defined under fed­er­al or state law (18 U.S.C. 2256; O.C.G.A. 1612100), and mate­r­i­al that is harm­ful to minors” as defined under Geor­gia law (O.C.G.A. 1612102) is not allowed.
  • DeKalb Coun­ty Pub­lic Library is not respon­si­ble for any lia­bil­i­ty, dam­ages or expens­es result­ing from use or mis­use of a library Chrome­book, con­nec­tion of the Chrome­book to oth­er elec­tron­ic devices or net­works, or data loss.
  • DeKalb Coun­ty Pub­lic Library is not respon­si­ble for the breach or inter­cep­tion of con­fi­den­tial infor­ma­tion result­ing from the mali­cious activ­i­ty of anoth­er inter­net user.
  • The inter­net con­tains images and con­tent that may be offen­sive or harm­ful to some. DeKalb Coun­ty Pub­lic Library is released from all lia­bil­i­ties asso­ci­at­ed with the view­ing, use or expo­sure to any images and con­tent patrons may encounter while using the Chrome­book online. 
  • Par­ents and/​or guardians are strong­ly encour­aged to mon­i­tor their minor chil­dren’s use of elec­tron­ic resources, includ­ing elec­tron­ic mail, and to estab­lish guide­lines con­sis­tent with per­son­al and indi­vid­ual fam­i­ly val­ues and boundaries.