Next month’s annual Ogdensburg Boys and Girls Club Expo will allow visitors more than the opportunity to meet with north country vendors and service organizations and see what they have to offer.

They can also go to the library.

Ogdensburg Public Library will have a branch at the March 23 to 25 Expo at Ogdensburg Free Academy. There will be books, DVDs, compact discs and other materials that can be borrowed with a library card that can be obtained right on the spot.

This is the library’s third appearance at the Expo, yet the first with an interactive slant. The previous two focused on the city’s history.

“We try and do something different every year,” said Wayne L. Miller, the library’s executive director.

The Friends of the Library-sponsored Expo appearance will make it simple to get a library card. Present identification, be accompanied by a parent if age 14 and under and, with the assistance of a laptop computer to take in the information, the card will be presented.

Mr. Miller said the card holder will be able to borrow materials immediately, and not just from the city library at 213 Washington St.

“It is good at all 65 North Country Library System libraries,” he said, adding that its reach covers St. Lawrence, Jefferson, Lewis and Oswego counties.

The presence of a computer at the Expo branch will also enable visitors to use one of the library’s most popular services. The Ask Us 24/7 website is a real-time information outlet. A question is typed in and an answer comes back, usually within minutes.

The reply comes from one of thousands of librarians who are plugged into the service.

“It’s from librarians all around the country and the world,” Mr. Miller said. “It’s a real time chat box.”

The Expo branch will also have children’s books to give away. Most of all, though, there will be a push to get as many people to register for library cards as possible.

“We want people to walk away with them,” Mr. Miller said.

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