In North Carolina, State Library Will Train 300 Librarians in Job Search

Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 03/04/2009

• State recognizes key role of library
• Funds allocated to respond to "crisis"
• NC LIVE consortium has added relevant books

More and more, libraries have become the default sites for job searching and the North Carolina State Library will soon launch a program to train librarians to help patrons connect with employers and conduct job searches. From March 16–30, the state library will hold seminars at nine locations, and all 300 spaces have been filled.

"Getting our people back to work is my number one priority,” said Gov. Bev Perdue of the project, known as JobSearch Help Desk. “This project will make an immediate difference in our ability to help citizens.”

State Librarian Mary Boone credits her boss, Linda Carlisle, Secretary of the Department of Cultural Resources, with the initiative. “With our budget cuts, we did not feel that we were in a position to initiate new programs,” Boone told LJ. “Secretary Carlisle described this situation as a ‘crisis’ and made the money available for us to proceed.”

Boone said the program would cost $30,000 and also benefits from cooperation from the state’s Employment Services Commission and Department of Commerce. The JobSearch Help Desk has already received extensive local press coverage.

Databases beefed up
The workshops will focus on use of North Carolina’s statewide electronic database consortium NC LIVE, (a state-funded joint program of North Carolina’s public and academic libraries), which has contributed to the project by acquiring over 200 new electronic books from NetLibrary. The workshops also will include training in the use of EBSCO’s Career Library and Learning Express Library (from Learning Express) both available on NC LIVE.

Also, attendees will be informed about print and online tools for skills such as resume writing, job searching, and interviewing.  Each regional workshop, developed and presented by the State Library's Library Development consultants, will include panels with Employment Services Commission and Department of Commerce work force development staffers. Local agencies that provide employment services will participate.

Materials will persist
Though all the sessions are subscribed, the materials will be accessible in an online JobSearch Help Desk toolkit on the State Library's web site beginning this month, and online training modules will be developed. Attendees will receive notebooks with handouts to share with colleagues and library patrons.

Boone said that the State Library, like other agencies, was absorbing a 9% budget cut, and had responded by eliminating vacant positions and postponing purchases. While state funds are tight, she told LJ that Carlisle likened the establishment of the JobSearch Help Desk to a “hurricane fund,” money spent in response to a true crisis.