So, a project I've been working on at the Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum is setting up and running an e-library. The goal was to make it possible for people using their phones or other Wi-Fi-enabled devices to log in and download books, movies, photos, and audio.

What I ended up settling on for the project was a system called ConnectBox. "ConnectBox" https://connectbox.technology/wp/what-is-a-connectbox/I emailed the creators, and we talked a bit. They sent me a custom image that would work on a Raspberry Pi and included a lightweight operating system with a GUI.

The image they gave me would only work for me on a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B and a Pi Zero, but I figured out that if I had it running on a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B and then ran an update for the operating system, I could get it to run on a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+.

The system allows you to name the e-library site and Wi-Fi hotspot, as well as set the URL. My initial problem was that unless you turned off your phone's mobile data, when you typed in the URL, it would try to access it from the internet instead of locally. I ended up solving this problem by making the address end in ".lan."

I've put up a poster at the museum explaining how to log on and what the e-library is. Now people are able to download a bunch of different types of media, everything from books about running freight on trolley lines to full-length feature films such as Conductor 1492.

If anyone is interested in this kind of thing, I'd be more than happy to help set one up for your organization.