Peacthree City residents will soon have easy access to the world of computers and the Internet, through their local library.

A series of major high-technology advancements at the Peachtree City Library is about complete, according to a report given at Wednesday night's regular monthly meeting of the Library Commission.

The last step in the process is the addition of a number of high-speed Internet connections, all of which should be operational by April 30. The fiber optic line is already in place, and the equipment has been acquired.

When it is finally installed, it will allow those patrons who already use the existing Internet stations and have passwords to log on by themselves, thereby relieving the library staff of the potentially tedious task of logging on each patron manually.

One facet of Internet use that was a concern was the availability of e-mail accounts for patrons who do not have computers of their own. Normally that would require a special server, but as a commission member pointed out, the existence of Web-based e-mail services such as Hotmail will make that unnecessary.

Also included in the recent computer system upgrade is the addition of such popular Microsoft applications as Word, Excel and Powerpoint.

These new features, with the possibility of many patrons now knowing how to use them and needing constant assistance, have not been as big a drain on the staff as was feared. Most patrons who ask to use them are already familiar with them and know what they need to know, staff members reported.

While there are numerous help tools on each program, the library does not have any books or other tutorials to assist users with this software, and staff suggested such materials might be a good investment.

The system itself is coming in under budget, and totally Y2K-compliant. The same cannot be said for the Flint River Regional Library System's computers, which may be non-compliant both in hardware and software.

Staff training is on schedule, with the completion of a basic computer class and the first of two Internet classes so far. In addition to the second Internet class, there will be staff training on Excel and Powerpoint.

Progress continues to be made on the Educational Learning Lab, as it was reported to the commission that $3,455 has been raised so far, enough for five computers.

It was originally planned to begin the program after the acquisition of eight computers, but that may change, since 100 have already signed up just among the city's senior citizens.

Donations of computers for the program are being accepted, provided they are Pentium 75 or higher.