How can our libraries support small businesses and nonprofits? On this show, Rachel Fuller, Information Services Manager, and Kristine Cook, Manager of the Adult Services Division for the Main Library, with the Columbus Metropolitan Library, share how they are Empowering the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in their library system and how you can, too.
Transcript
Library Leadership Podcast is brought to you by Innovative. Innovative, a part of Clarivate, is a globally recognized library industry partner with nearly five decades of experience developing library management solutions, discovery tools, marketing and communication services, and digital resource management products. Innovative believes every person in every community deserves a personalized library experience. Learn more at www.iii.com
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
This is Adriane Herrick Juarez. You’re listening to Library Leadership Podcast, where we talk about libraries and leadership, and speak with guests who share their ideas, innovations, and strategic insights in the profession.
How can our libraries support small businesses and nonprofits? On this show, Rachel Fuller, Information Services Manager, and Kristine Cook, Manager of the Adult Services Division for the Main Library with the Columbus Metropolitan Library, share how they are empowering the entrepreneurial ecosystem in their library system and how you can too. Enjoy the show!
Kristine and Rachel, welcome to the show.
Rachel Fuller:
Hello.
Kristine Cook:
Thanks for having us.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #1: Thanks for being here. We are discussing empowering the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Will you please share why this is beneficial in libraries, Rachel? 01:28
Rachel Fuller:
Sure. About a year ago, we opened a new business and nonprofit resource center at our Main Library in downtown Columbus. We did this for a few reasons. First of all, we really just think that supporting small businesses and nonprofits is really important to our community. The last stat that I heard from the US Chamber of Commerce was that small businesses actually make up 43.5% of our nation’s GDP, and about 46% of all jobs are at small businesses. So it’s really an important, integral part of our community. In Columbus we found that we had quite a few questions about how to start these small businesses and nonprofits.
We already had a long history of business librarianship, but when we began to invest more, we really quickly realized that there’s actually quite a few organizations in Columbus that already support small businesses. So there was actually already an existing ecosystem of these organizations.
The problem was that a lot of our customers were unaware of those resources, so they would come to us and they were starting out at square one. So when we started thinking about this a little more deeply, we quickly realized that we both need to help our customers with their direct questions, and also support the larger ecosystem of organizations that serve them. We really focus on helping people with those first steps and then connecting folks to the support organizations that can grow their organizations with them. For us, it’s really beneficial just to offer the service that brings people into the library and contributes to the economic well-being of our community.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #2: What does this look like in terms of developing the physical spaces needed to do this work, Kristine? 03:23
Kristine Cook:
Keeping those benefits in mind was really key as we worked on developing the space—spent a lot of time surveying what other libraries were doing. We went and visited another library to see their space. In libraries we like to share ideas, and why reinvent the wheel? We were able to learn from what other people have done.
We really tried to keep in mind our goals as well as what our customers need. That was really top-of-mind for, What can customers come in and accomplish in this space? Ultimately, our business and nonprofit resource center—that we also might refer to as our B and our C in this presentation in this talk, is designed to be a comfortable co-working space where people can work collaboratively.
It has a variety of furniture in it. It supports both individuals working, but also small groups ranging from small pods to up to six people sitting at a table together. We also have a lot of whiteboards around on wheels so that it’s flexible, and it also does help enclose some of that seating. So it’s not a private space, but it does allow for more privacy to be had. We do want the space to feel lively as well. That was one of our goals, is to really feel the collaboration that’s happening.
There are some sound dampening features in order to keep it a little contained, but also making sure that people can see what else is going on in the space. It’s helpful for sight-lines—first, from the staffing perspective. We also wanted the space to be flexible so that we could offer events, whether that’s networking or our partners coming in, having resource fairs, just various different things in the community—after all, libraries are about space. We wanted that to be something we could do. I was also very excited that this was the first spot at CML to offer Mac computer access for adults. We’ve had Macs for teens and had a lot of questions about it, so we were finally able to meet that request. We have two of those, as well as four PCs in the area, and they all have the Adobe Creative Cloud installed on them. People have access to those tools that are very expensive and usually cost prohibitive for a small business or nonprofit that’s just starting out. Of course, we can also provide access to other library resources on those computers as well. A lot of research, and reference, and our databases are accessible up there outside of our regular computer lab.
We also already had, conveniently—but that was part of why we chose the space that we did, an enclosed meeting room next to the space. So if somebody needs privacy, I mean, it’s glass so you can see into it, but verbally for privacy that space is available. It holds about twenty-five to thirty people. We hold our classes in there, but also it’s very heavily used by the community. We really think in the end we were successful in being able to meet those needs and provide a space that really gives that feeling of, I’ve come to the library to accomplish something, and I have the tools I need to accomplish those goals.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #3: That sounds like a space I want to visit and utilize. What resources and programs make this kind of work successful. Rachel? 06:48
Rachel Fuller:
That’s a great question. So, the first resource I think that is so essential is simply to have the right staff in the right roles. We are super fortunate to have a wonderful business librarian, Ryan Frick, and a wonderful nonprofit resource specialist librarian named Jenny Denen. They really go deep on all of the intricacies of the resources that we have—all the databases and all the relationships. They are really the very first resource. We make available appointments with them, as well as drop-in hours with them, and they lead lots of classes. That’s the second piece. We’ve really developed a core set of classes on both the business and the nonprofit side. I’ll focus here just on the business side, since that’s the primary interest here.
We have six core classes: starting a small business in Ohio; beginning industry research; researching your competitors; some marketing classes; and then we really love our new Tool Live Plans. We do a class called Building a Business Plan in Live Plan. Those core courses we do on repeat, in person, online. We’ve done hybrid versions of those. We take them out in the community—pieces of them, when requested. That’s the foundation, but then we use a lot of partners to really flesh out our curriculum. For example, we partner with the Ohio State University, as well as the US Patent Office to bring in classes about patents and trademarks and copyrights, because that is way outside the scope of what our librarians can specialize in, but such important information if you need it. Similarly, we partner with the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, and they bring in classes that they’re hosting for small businesses, and we love to host those. A lot of our partners provide programming for us. I would say about two thirds of our programming is actually led by those partners. They are an essential resource.
The other key thing that we’ve been doing is offering drop-in hours with some of our partners. So in addition to the core classes, and the specialized classes, we have partners in the business center—on mostly a weekly basis that can provide that expertise. That additional experience and level of specialization that our librarians aren’t able to do within their scope. So, for example, legal aid comes in once a week, and that is very popular. People come in with all kinds of questions and needs that are outside our scope. We also have ECDI, which is a CDFI—a microlender that provides loans to small businesses. We have the Apex Accelerator who will be affiliated with the Ohio University, and they will be supporting folks to get government contracts and certifications for their businesses. So quite a few folks, quite a lot of expertise that we’re making available through a drop-in service. So that’s been really, really beneficial.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #4: It sounds like a marvelous lineup of resources, and programs, and partnerships. When it comes to developing staff to support these entrepreneurial ecosystems. What can that look like? Kristine? 10:14
Kristine Cook:
As much as we rely on our partnerships, and are very thankful to have librarians who are able to specialize in business and nonprofit, we do also understand that, just in general, our staff are so important to this work, and we believe strongly in helping them feel confident in these interactions that can often seem very overwhelming when you first get them. The great part is, there’s a lot that every library is able to do in this space, regardless of their size. So we really approached bringing all information staff, their baseline knowledge up slowly. Because I like to remind people it usually takes at least a year to establish really good competency in something. The repetition is such an important part of this.
We recommend starting with basic vocabulary of business and nonprofit questions. It immediately allows staff to speak confidently and not have to go through a reference interview to realize, Oh, this person is talking to me about their small business or nonprofit. It also allows them to have a couple of go-to questions to start with, Are you just starting your business? Is it established, or is this an idea that we’re growing, which immediately helps the customer feel at ease, that, Oh, the person I’m talking to knows and understands my needs. Then that reference interview can play out.
We also started with training on the tools that we had available. All libraries, regardless of your budget—you can look at what organizations in your city, county or state are helping entrepreneurs, like Rachel cited earlier. There’s so much economic investment from these people, so your state has a vested interest in helping them as well.
What pamphlets or information do they have available on starting a business? What research databases are you already paying for that might be able to directly or indirectly help a small business owner? Linkedin for Library is one that we refer to a lot. They have courses on everything and you might not think small business immediately, and yet it absolutely is applicable.
Another thing we recommend is looking around at what other libraries have online. 2020 definitely pushed a lot of libraries into the virtual programming space. It did for us. We have a lot of Crowdcasts about business resources that are available that anybody is able to go look at. You don’t have to have a library card. So again, not reinventing the wheel, finding out what other libraries have available and sparking ideas for yourself. We encourage staff to share discoveries with each other. During our weekly team meetings, we have time to share reference questions because it allows them to share methods that they used, or the ways that they thought about the question, or the different approaches to resources that they used. This crowdsourced learning is really a big piece of that staff development as well.
At the end of the day, as a leader, it’s important to model these interactions for our staff and then remind them that while they can seem overwhelming and very niche and they are—they are just a reference interaction at the end of the day, and they handle those experts every single day with every single person that comes to us, so there’s no reason that they can’t do these as well.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #5: That sounds supportive and helpful, which I know we all need when embarking on these kinds of projects. I know you use an Ecomap as a tool in your work to create an outreach plan around everything you’ve done with this?How does that work? 13:51
Rachel Fuller:
For folks that are unfamiliar, an Ecomap is simply a diagram showing relationships between people or entities. It’s a tool from the world of social work, and it’s historically been used to either understand family systems or communities, but basically it’s just a visual representation of all of our partners. You can get really fancy with it, but my Ecomaps basically have big circles for our big partners, little squares for our smaller partners, and we’ve got lines to show the relationships between them as well as to the library. I also often put on there, the kinds of activities that we’re engaged in with our partners.
It does a couple of things. One is it lets me quickly communicate to leaders and to partners what’s already going on and what our relationships are, so they can quickly see, Yeah, we’re working with the Small Business Development Center. We’re working with OSU, we’re working with the CDC Association. So it’s a communication tool, but I also use it to quickly brainstorm when I have a need. For example, if I need to fill a gap in our curriculum, or I need an expert on something, or we have a research question and we don’t quite know where to go, it really helps me keep all the resources in our community in front of me, so that I’m not always starting from square one and trying to remember, as with my aging brain, all of the ins and outs of different relationships. So, it’s really simply just a diagram, a communication tool and a brainstorming tool, but it does help us think through, Are we using those relationships as fully as we could be?
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #6: I appreciate you sharing that. Is there anything else you’d like to share? 15:46
Kristine Cook:
The more that we talk about these services, the more I’m reminded that libraries are so much more than books. Obviously we know this as people in the profession. We’ve been sharing that story with our communities for years, and years, and years now. But it is still what polls show most people associate with us. As I think about leading my team through whatever changes are coming—finding these innovative ways to match our expertise, and sharing information to meet new and evolving needs, is just absolutely critical.
You don’t necessarily immediately associate libraries with helping small businesses, and yet it’s such a natural fit. CML’s purpose is to inspire reading, share resources and connect people, and that’s exactly what our services for entrepreneurs do every single day. But in that, it’s also important for us to stay focused on who our primary customers are. That’s whether we’re designing a space like the BNRC, or a program, or figuring out what partners to bring in, because small businesses are the backbone of the local economy, we really choose to focus on those who have young businesses or nonprofits, especially with an emphasis on those in lower income brackets. Making sure that our wealth of resources are available and promoted to those who need them the most helps us make the most impact on individuals and Columbus as a whole, really.
Lastly, I think the other thing I’d like to make sure we mention is the American Library Association’s Libraries Build Businesses website. There is a wealth of information there that’s helpful both in launching and growing these services, so I definitely recommend checking it out—a lot of statistics and things to help in your advocacy.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #7: That is a great resource. Thank you for mentioning it. Do you have any favorite leadership books or resources and why? Kristine? 17:44
Kristine Cook:
I’ll be honest that I’m more of a fiction reader, [laughter] but one book that has been super critical for me as I stepped into management and leadership was Quiet, by Susan Cain, which you don’t immediately think of as a leadership book, and yet it’s just really helpful in both understanding yourself and understanding the people that you are leading. I know it’s a bit stereotypical that librarians are quiet and introverted, and yet most of my team will identify as such. So it is important for me to understand to have time for them to process information, or if they’re quiet during a meeting because they’re thinking and need to share something later, or just—group work can be very exhausting. It’s important, whether you’re an extrovert or an introvert yourself, to understand that piece, and because meeting our teams where they’re at is how they feel valued and really, in the long run, is how it helps us accomplish our goals.
I think the other thing that’s been helpful to me as a leader, CML uses Focus 3 as our leadership training, and that basically teaches that exceptional results require individuals to make disciplined, driven contributions on a local and personal level. So having that core set of beliefs, behaviors, and leadership expectations is invaluable as an organization for all of us to live out our organizational values.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #8: Thank you so much. In closing, what do libraries mean to you personally? 19:22
Rachel Fuller:
For me, it’s about community. We answer a lot of information questions every day, and that’s essential. But for me, I find it most exciting when we can connect people. One thing that’s really great about our business programming is that we are building more and more networking and connecting opportunities into it, because we’ve really learned quickly that being an entrepreneur can be lonely. Starting a new nonprofit is hard, and so being able to connect people with others that know that journey, can support them personally, professionally—to me, that’s what it’s all about, just connecting people to each other.
Kristine Cook:
I think for me, libraries are really about possibilities. It’s really inspiring to walk in and know that you’re surrounded by information being discovered and connections being made, like Rachel talked about. That can be from a child learning the art of friendship over a video game, to someone in crisis finding emergency assistance because of one of our partnerships, or the cliché—somebody discovering their next favorite book. Every single day we get to make a difference in thousands of lives. And that difference is very individualized, which is very exciting to me. CML is open to all. It’s a belief that we have espoused since our founding in 1873, and really, we are a space where you can lose yourself for hours exploring whatever is interesting to you, whether that’s in a book or using our Wi-Fi or our computers. We have rolled with those changes and you can do all of that without fear or judgment, and that is pretty awesome.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
That is awesome. What you have done to empower the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Columbus Metropolitan Library System does just what you are both talking about, and creates an amenity that supports small businesses and nonprofits. Thank you for sharing this wealth of knowledge today, which I hope will encourage others to engage in similar work.
Kristine Cook:
Thank you so much.
Rachel Fuller:
Thank you.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
You’ve been listening to Library Leadership podcast. This is Adriane Herrick Juarez. For more episodes, tune in to Library Leadership Podcast.com, where you can now subscribe to get episodes delivered right to your email inbox. Our producer is Nathan Sinclair Vineyard. Thanks for listening. We’ll see you next time.
We would like to thank the Park City Library for their dedicated support of this show. The opinions expressed on this show are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the views of Library Leadership podcast or our sponsors.
Leave a Reply