{"id":347505,"date":"2026-06-05T03:24:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T03:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/347505\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T03:24:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T03:24:11","slug":"kern-county-libraries-expand-digital-services-but-face-staffing-and-outreach-gaps-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/347505\/","title":{"rendered":"Kern County libraries expand digital services, but face staffing and outreach gaps: Report"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 Kern County\u2019s public libraries are increasingly serving as hubs for internet access, job help, and community services, even as staffing and outreach challenges persist, according to a new Kern County Grand Jury report.<\/p>\n<p>The report says local libraries now offer high-speed internet, computer access, and digital literacy programs as part of their efforts to meet the needs of the digital age.<\/p>\n<p>Kern County\u2019s library system serves 22 branches and offers programs ranging from career development to after-school meals and free state park passes, the report says.<\/p>\n<p>But the grand jury report also highlights ongoing challenges, including a shortage of bilingual staff.<\/p>\n<p>Comment with Bubbles<\/p>\n<p>BE THE FIRST TO COMMENT<\/p>\n<p>It also notes the county has just one bookmobile serving the entire county, making it difficult to reach outlying communities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 Kern County\u2019s public libraries are increasingly serving as hubs for internet access, job help,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":347506,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":["post-347505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=347505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/347506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=347505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=347505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=347505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}