The Race for Jobs Charlotte –Mecklenburg North Carolina 10.7% unemployment rate Hello, I am Margery Orell and I am from Charlotte. Charlotte has a CH problem. It is often confused with Charlottesville and the 2 Charlestons. For those of you who are not quite sure where Charlotte is, you can see the location on this map. Our suburbs actually creep over the SC line. The uptown has grown up literally in its 30 year building streak. You can see the skyline here. Duke Power, Bank of America and Wells Fargo all have a huge presence in the uptown as does the Main branch of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library. Charlotte – Mecklenburg is a large metropolitan area that is suffering from high unemployment.

20 Branches serving 900,000 people The Charlotte Mecklenburg Library is a large system. Sometimes large systems move slowly, but not this time. To help the unemployed and underemployed find jobs, the library created a job seeking program, a coaching program and a self-help program. They were in a race to help the community get back on its feet. How did this happen?

One For The Money Library Community Engagement Committee = Grant Money for Workforce Projects ABC Board $175,000.00 Wells Fargo and Van Every Foundations $25,000.00 Knight Foundation – PC upgrades and facility infrastructure. The Job help Center at the Library came together as a “perfect storm.” When the economy collapsed in 2008, the Library formed the Community Engagement Team. They wanted the Library to help the community and also to be a viable community resource. At the same time, The ABC (Alcohol Beverage Control) Board wanted to give money to a Workforce Development project. The Library put forth a proposal and was awarded money. Money begets money. Pretty soon, Wells Fargo and the Van Every Foundations gave money for the Center. Finally the Knight Foundation gave money for the facility itself.

Two for the Show This is one wing of the Job Help Center. This space was formerly the children’s library. 50 computers, scanners, printers, a dedicated classroom, an efficient help desk, a job bulletin board, and best of all, a success stories/encouragement slide show at the entrance fill this space.

To give the job center a 24/7 life, the library created an efficient self-help web page. They have used logical static links that you can see on the left. They highlight local resources, and NCLive Resources.

Three To Get Ready Reserve a PC at the Job Help Center Computer usage is for 3 hour internet sessions and are to be used for job search activities. The Library looked at Best practices everywhere and incorporated these into the Center. The first of these is the online computer reservation. Users may reserve a computer anywhere in the system, but if they book a computer in the Job Help Center, they have a 3-hour slot.

Self-help materials The Library created materials that users can fill out and carry with them or fill out and practice online. This is an example of a resume-like form that can be printed out and filled in.

Job Help Blog and Twitter I was most impressed with the Library’s Job Help Blog and Twitter. The Center has a physical bulletin board that displays jobs from the Employment Security Commission and Craig’s List. It is updated daily. AND, it is repeated on the Library’s Blog and Twitter., every day. WOW. For those who are racing to find a job, this resource is like guzzling an energy drink!

Partnerships Staffing in the Library has been reduced to bare bones. Offering classes and creating a viable curriculum for jobseekers cannot be done with in-house staff. So the Library has partnered with local agencies to offer classes and services.

Curriculum and Schedule Classes for job seekers and for those who want to get a better job are offered at locations all over the system and in the dedicated classroom. These face-to-face classes are augmented with links to self-help online classes.

Encouragement and Communication This is hard to quantify. But this is what you see when you walk into the Job Help Center. You can’t help but stop to see who is being congratulated for getting a job, in this case. Some of the slides at encouraging words, but most are congratulations like these. Continual Kudos from the Library for job seekers who have crossed the finish line.

27,000 computer uses (3-hour session) And Four To Go In the first year of its existence, The Library logged 27,000 computers uses. Do the math, that is almost 100,000 hours. 27,000 computer uses (3-hour session)

105 classes for 634 people Trainers conducted 105 classes. With severe cutbacks in operating hours, this is a small miracle.

I loved this part of the Job Help Center so much that I am showing you two more slides from the entry to the Center. This kind of encouragement is so lovely and it really sets the tone for the entire Center.

Job Help Center opened Jan 2010 “It’s all about jobs, jobs, jobs.” Jennifer Roberts, County Commissioner I am a cheerleader for the Job Help Center and I am proud to have it in my community.