I did a free webinar last week called Recession Relief that covered ways libraries can help patrons during these tough economic times, and you can watch the archived session and access my PowerPoint slides and notes (which include all the links I mention in the presentation). 

BCR does these hour long Free Friday Forums fairly regularly, and if you miss one you wanted to see, you can always view them later by going to the archive.

9/24 Just saw a newspaper article on the eTrain Mobile Training Lab – a partnership between my local workforce center and library.  Cool!

Just listened to this IMLS podcast series (also available for download or you can read the transcripts).  Four state librarians from North Carolina, New York, Washington and Connecticut as well as state library staff from Michigan and Washington discuss what libraries in their states are doing to help residents during these difficult economic times.

In NC, the state library gave a series of job search workshops to teach library staff how to help job seekers.  They brought in government employment agency personnel to help, which in turn has led to a number of partnerships between libraries and these agencies.  Community colleges were included as so many people are now attending them to train for new careers.  A wiki was set up to exchange ideas, and their electronic resources collaborative, NC Live, updated their job resources so every Tar Heel now has access to the latest e-books on resumes, interviews and the job search process.  Mary Boone also mentioned how many job seekers are in need of computer skills training.

NY brought another perspective as Bernie Margolis felt that creating jobs was of prime importance, so he spoke about how libraries help entrepreneurs and cited Lojack and Duck Boat tours as two companies that were started solely by using resources from public libraries.  He also mentioned the free entertainment options we offer.  NY is trying to increase broadband internet access, but they haven’t forgotten about the unemployed and are trying to get Department of Labor personnel stationed in public libraries.

Sheryl Mase spoke about the resources available on the Michigan eLibrary which can be accessed with your driver’s license number – a great idea!  MI wants broadband access everywhere too and they are partnering with their department of education to realize this goal.  A number of their libraries have career centers and/or small business support centers.  But MI has been hit harder by the economy than most places and has long been suffering from budget cuts so they are supplementing funding by partnering with private enterprise – see their museum pass and parks pass.

I’ve blogged about WA’s efforts previously, but I’m still impressed by their Hard Times site as besides providing employment and financial help, it links to local resources for basic needs.  They are advocating for libraries by keeping the media informed about exploding library use.

Ken Wiggin from CT had similar comments, but mentioned how many small businesses use the library as their office – which we’d noticed savvy entrepreneurs starting to do several years ago.

IMLS has posted a link to various states’ resource pages for helping patrons during tough economic times.

What programs have you added to deal with the onslaught of unemployed patrons?  Do you feel like more of a career counselor than a librarian these days?  Are you helping a lot of people who really need to brush up on their computer skills?

Well, this truly is our heyday!  As budgets implode, library use explodes, so how do we provide more with less?  Websites can help relieve some of the stress on information desks by linking to resources that answer some of the most frequent questions from the unemployed.  The Washington and New Jersey state libraries have excellent sites with links to job resources, unemployment forms, community resources for the needy and economic development resources (especially useful for those who’ve decided to give up on finding a job and start their own business).  And Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library has compiled a Job Search Kit for checkout that has resume and job search books as well as information on local resources.  BCR offers BrainFuse’s JobNow to help patrons with interviews, resumes and the job search.  We also offer Facts on File’s Career Guidance Database to let customers explore new job choices.  If you want to create a page with specific resources for your state, try starting with TheCanned which has information on health insurance options and unemployment benefits for all the states as well as job links.

We also need to help shore up local businesses so there are some jobs out there for our increasingly anxious patrons.  Some libraries are offering personalized services to help businesses grow.  Librarians interview companies about their informational needs then run specific searches on specialized single user databases on a regular basis that alert the businesses to new opportunities.  Sites like Growing Local Economies can give you lots of ideas about how you can start your own program and BCR has partnered with CIVICTechnologies to offer their BusinessDecision database to help you help them with research and marketing.

Remember too that there are confusing decisions for the newly laid off to make about finances and savings.  Those who need to move sums from pensions and 401(k)s may be particularly vulnerable to scams but the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has an excellent page on managing finances after a job loss.

So share your ideas!  I’d love to hear from you about ways your library is helping out in these difficult times.