Now, more than ever, librarians are serving the public as employment counselors, helping patrons write resumes and research job opportunities.
Earlier this week, the Mooresville NC Public Library hosted a “Job Search Workshop” conducted by the State Library of North Carolina. It’s purpose was to educate regional librarians on how to better assist people who use their libraries’ resources to look for employment.
“This is one of the ways we felt we could respond to this economic crisis, the joblessness, the kind of panic that people feel when they’re searching for a job and maybe haven’t done that for a decade or more,” said Mooresville Library Director John Pritchard.
Pam Jaskot, a library consultant with the State Library, said librarians from across North Carolina have been completely overwhelmed by the amount of people coming in to use their facilities, especially those using their computers to search for employment.
Has your State Library or your library system offered programs of this nature? Please let us know.
Employment Series at Heights Libraries
This spring, the Adult Services department of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library has launched a very popular Employment Series for our customers. The sessions teach basic computer skills for job seekers, resume writing, how to search for jobs online, how to fill out online job applications, and how to prepare for an interview. We had waiting lists for this series only two days after announcing it.
Workforce Wednesdays
My library offers Workforce Wednesdays. Patrons can use our computer lab from 6:00 p.m. – 8:45 p.m. and receive help on resumes, job searching, etc.
Northbrook Public Library’s Job Hunting Resources
Here, we have started teaching a bi-monthly computer course about “JOB HUNTING RESOURCES”. Patrons can access our materials and find out more about our services here: http://www.northbrook.info/lib_jobs.php
The best part is the handout I made that is a PDF that you can download, with information about our services.
I like the “WORKFORCE WEDNESDAYS idea. Excellent!
Gwyneth Stupar
Reference Librarian
Northbrook Public Library.