Economic Opportunity
Overview
Libraries are leaders and champions of economic opportunity for all. Libraries are versatile, established, accessible, and cost-effective means of aiding job seekers, skill builders, and entrepreneurs advance toward their career goals and meaningful economic outcomes. The library is an integral part of a thriving local community and an inclusive economy.
Libraries are well prepared to meet the needs of career seekers and entrepreneurs in the 21st century. Across each of the 123,000 libraries in the U.S., people are using their library to obtain quality internet access, cultivate essential digital skills, and learn how to use new technologies via library-run makerspaces, studios, and computer skills courses. With programs ranging from business database access and co-working spaces to library-led coursework or counseling, the resources needed to support the next generation of entrepreneurs and job creators are in place already at your local library.
ALA promotes libraries as established centers for learning, advancement, and economic opportunity for all. Browse our resources to learn more about the role of libraries in economic opportunity.
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Digital Skills, Educational Programs, and Career Advancement
Library Small Business Support Programming and Practice
Affordability, Availability, and Expansion of Quality Internet Access
Support for the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)
Financial stability, economic mobility, and the prevention of recidivism among currently and formerly incarcerated persons.
Check out our full suite of tools, guides, and resources on economic opportunity programming.
Workforce Development (PLA)
Every day, libraries across the country empower job seekers to access employment services and training, leading to better jobs and improved career pathways. People use libraries to gain digital skills, access new technologies, pursue vocational and educational programs, and start new businesses. Libraries are established centers for learning and advancement and hubs for community connection and referral. PLA’s workforce development initiatives help libraries nationwide respond to these critical needs with strengthened workforce collaborations and expanded services.
Libraries Build Business
Libraries Build Business (2020-2022) was a national initiative of the American Library Association (ALA), supported by Google.org, intended to build capacity in libraries offering programming or services to local entrepreneurs and the small business community, prioritizing low-income and underrepresented entrepreneurs.
Currently, Libraries Build Business continues its work to support a nationwide community of library small business support professionals. Project resources, tools, and the Libraries Build Business Community are available to all library workers interested in starting or growing their small business programs and services.
Broadband
ALA is dedicated to the affordability of broadband deployment, the preservation of an open internet, and the availability of internet during critical periods. ALA also backs the development and expansion of broadband to underserved and rural communities. Learn more about our broadband policy portfolio and available resources for libraries.
Workforce Policy and Advocacy
In 2014, Congress reauthorized the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) to help job seekers and workers access employment, education, training, and support services to succeed in the labor market. This legislation now recognizes the part libraries can play in assisting these job seekers and be integrated into the state and local plans to deliver these crucial services. Learn more about our workforce advocacy.
Prison Libraries
ALA asserts a compelling public interest in the preservation of intellectual freedom for individuals of any age held in jails, prisons, detention facilities, juvenile facilities, immigration facilities, prison work camps and segregated units within any facility. ALA also strongly supports the cultivation of resources for currently and formerly incarcerated persons to ensure financial stability, economic mobility, and the prevention of recidivism. Learn more about our advocacy.
Resources
- Libraries Build Business: Digital Skills for Workforce and Small Business Development (January 2025)
- Libraries Build Business: Sustainable and Green Job Initiatives in U.S. Libraries (January 2025)
- Libraries Build Business: Business and Career Support for Immigrants and New Arrivals (January 2025)
- Libraries Build Business: Business and Career Opportunities for the Formerly Incarcerated (January 2025)
- One Small Business at a Time: Build Economic Opportunity in America's Communities (April 2023)
- Leverage Libraries to Achieve Digital Equity for All (October 2022)
- America’s Libraries: Essential Partners in Workforce Development & Career Services (2021)
- Libraries and Reentry: The Importance of Public Spaces, Technologies, and Community to Formerly Incarcerated Patrons (2020)
Connect With Us
Join an active peer-to-peer community of library workers to discuss entrepreneurship, small business, and career programs, resources, and services.
Connect with library workers to discuss digital literacy, equity and inclusion, federal funding opportunities, and innovative digital inclusion programming.
Workforce Coalitions
The National Coalition for Literacy is an alliance of the leading national and regional organizations dedicated to advancing adult education, family literacy, and English language acquisition in the United States. Through collaborative efforts with other advocacy organizations and individuals, NCL ensures that leaders and legislators at the national level make informed decisions about policies, regulations, and funding for adult education and family literacy.
The Adult Literacy and Learning Impact Network (ALL IN) was formed in 2022. Composed of national thought leaders from the adult literacy field and beyond, this collective impact initiative is charged with carrying out the National Action Plan for Adult Literacy:
- Engage adult learners as movement leaders
- Raise awareness and advocate for change
- Expand outcomes-based research
- Support adult literacy instructors
- Invest in innovation while scaling proven approaches
Staff Contact
Megan Janicki
Deputy Director, Strategic Initiatives
mjanicki@alawash.org
