By: Robin Ford Wallace, Reporter

As Dade County Public Library employees prepare to stretch their limbs and shift back into their newly expanded permanent building from the 1,000-square-foot storefront they are currently squeezed into, one sardine in the tin reminds Dade Countians he is still there for them if they don’t mind close quarters. Jason McDade continues to offer free one-on-one computer tutoring, as well as help with resumes and job interview preparation, every Thursday at the library as long as the federal grant that pays his salary lasts.

“The original grant was six months, and it was extended,” said McDade. “If it’s extended for six months, I’m here until August. It definitely won’t last after that.” McDade is one of the temporary workers supplied by the feds through the Georgia Department of Labor following last year’s tornados.  

So McDade and the library invite the public to take advantage of his services while they’re available.  Tech-wise, McDade will tutor patrons on their smart devices such as iPads, cell phones and digital cameras as well as on their regular or laptop computers, programs and applications. “There have been one or two problems I haven’t been able to fix, but I’ve usually been able to muddle through,” he said.

Since the service began this year, McDade says he’s showed one lady how to use Excel for her business, helped others set up new laptops and learn the programs included on them, tutored several people on how to use email, and worked with patrons with brain injuries and depression on how to use computers to live fuller, more productive lives. McDade doesn’t like to brag, but patience is a virtue he strives for and after one session a lady told him, “That’s the first time I haven’t felt rushed and stupid in front of the computer.”

He was nervous when one patron asked him to help her with genealogical research, since genealogy was something he knew nothing about, but got lucky on the first try when he went to the website of a library in her grandfather’s home county and found a link to Ancestry.Com and thence to 1930 U.S. Census information on her family. 

“I run into that a lot,” he said. “If you know how to navigate one browser, you can figure out how to navigate another browser. You can work through it even though it may be something you’ve never seen before.”

Besides the high tech,  McDade spends about half his tutoring time helping patrons with resumes and job skills, and he takes this opportunity to remind the public that the library has available Cypress Resume, a program that effortlessly turns a user’s job information into a professional-looking resume. “It tailors it really well,” said McDade. “It’s amazing how accurate it is.” 

McDade also has a resume trick or two of his own up his sleeve – this is hands-on stuff; remember, he’ll need a new job after August – and was proud when his writing tips and interview tutoring helped land one patron a job recently. “He came by and he was so excited,” said McDade. “And of course I was too – All right!”

The library also now offers Learning Express Library, an online learning tool for those seeking GED or academic help as well as job training and trade certification. “If you’re going to be an electrician, it has practice exams to pass the electrician’s certification test,” said McDade.

You can make an appointment with McDade by calling the library at (706) 657-7857. Appointments are two hours each, but McDade says most patrons only use about an hour, so that he is sometimes able to take walk-ins.