Contact: Megan McFarlane
Campaign Coordinator
312-280-2148
mmcfarlane@ala.org
NEWS
For Immediate Release
March 10, 2009
(CHICAGO)- The State Library of North Carolina realizes that in tough economic times, a key component to library service is helping users locate new job opportunities. To ensure that librarians and library staff have access to the most up to date resources, the state library has created the Job Search workshop – Getting your community back to work, a new job training workshop specifically for librarians.
The workshop comes at a time when people are seeking jobs, filling out applications and exploring educational opportunities. Similar to libraries across the country, libraries in North Carolina are busier than ever, assisting customers with internet searching, answering questions and directing individuals to accurate resources.
“Some counties report as much as a 45% increase in computer use since the holidays compared to last year,” said Pam Jaskot, library consultant at the State Library.
This training is a free one-day workshop that will be held in nine locations across North Carolina. The workshop was designed to provide library staff across the state with the resources to assist library users in finding jobs at a time when such commodities are scarce. The workshop will highlight Internet resources, local and state job listings, NC LIVE databases, print materials and e-books. The state library will encourage workshop participants to add comments onto a job search wiki. The workshop content is on a Job Search Toolkit which can be viewed starting Friday, March 13 at http://statelibrary.ncdcr.gov/ld/jobsearchtoolkit.html.
“Getting our people back to work is my number one priority,” said Gov. Beverly Eaves Perdue, who has endorsed the program. “More and more, job seekers have turned to their public libraries for help to learn about and apply for jobs, creating a surge in demand. This project will make an immediate difference in our ability to help citizens.”
The program also partners with the North Carolina Employment Security Commission, the Department of Commerce and its JobLink Career Center, and NC LIVE.
The State Library of North Carolina launched a statewide Smartest Card @ your library campaign in 2005. Since then, it has selected a celebrity to champion the library card as the “smartest card” in every North Carolinian’s wallet. Celebrities have included Kevyn Adams, co-captain of the Carolina Hurricanes hockey team, actress Andie MacDowell, and world-renowned saxophonist Branford Marsalis.
Created by Public Library Association (PLA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA) and the Campaign for America’s Libraries, the Smartest Card campaign was developed in 2004 to promote the library card as the important card in every wallet.The Campaign for America’s Libraries ( www.ala.org/@yourlibrary), is the ALA’s public awareness campaign that promotes the value of libraries and librarians. Thousands of libraries of all types – across the country and around the globe - use the Campaign’s @ your library® brand. The Campaign is made possible in part by ALA’s Library Champions, corporations and foundations who advocate the importance of the library in American society.