Pulling it all together: Best Practices for Library Business Services Welcome and thank you for coming! I’m Jennifer Price and I’m the Business Reference Librarian for Middle Georgia Regional Library. Today, I want to share with you some best practices that a community library can put into place for serving businesses. But first, a bit more about my position and the Business and Nonprofit Center at MGRL… By Jennifer Price, Business Reference Librarian Middle Georgia Regional Library System Presented at the 2018 GALILEO Annual Conference

Middle Georgia Regional Library Business and Nonprofit Services What we have… Space: BANC (Business and Nonprofit Center) Classes for both for-profit and nonprofit users Print and Digital Resources How we started… A brief overview of business services at MGRL

Why Business Services? Social and Economic Impact: Snapshot 37, 384 nonprofits in Georgia (Independent Sector 2016) Nearly 10% of the state’s workforce employed at nonprofits (Independent Sector 2016) 1 million small businesses in Georgia (Small Business Administration 2018) 43.2% of the state’s workforce employed by small businesses (U.S. Small Business Administration 2018) Economic impact statistics justify the provision of library business services. What’s the demand from your library’s business community? If you are looking for a justification for developing or augmenting a business services program for your library… From the Georgia Center for Nonprofit’s 2012 publication, The Economic Impact of Georgia’s Nonprofit Sector: “Contributing to the overall health of our economy, nonprofits bring in money from outside sources (or keep money from leaving the state), provide jobs and wages to residents, and circulate money in the economy through their purchases of goods and services.” -- According to Independent Sector’s 2016 snapshot of Georgia’s nonprofit sector: Georgia has 37, 384 Nonprofits (Independent Sector 2016) Top 3 types: Community Improvement/Public Benefit, Human Services, Education (Independent Sector 2016) Nonprofits are known for positively impacting quality of life (Independent Sector 2016) Georgia’s nonprofits employ nearly 10% percent of the workforce (Independent Sector 2016)

The Community Library’s Role Public and Academic Libraries Mission statement, strategic plan, QEP, experiential learning programs Ecomonic Development Partner Information Literacy Type of library Vehicle for community impact

Decisions, Decisions!: Selecting Services Financial Literacy? Small Businesses? Finance & Investing? Careers & Employment? Nonprofits?

Time for Best Practices! Oh, and there’s a Handbook, too! Community Engagement Professional Development Strategic Goals Professional Guides for Business Services: ○ Embedded Business Librarianship for the Public Librarian by Barbara Alvarez (ALA Editions 2016) ○ Making Sense of Business Reference by Celia Ross (ALA Editions 2013) ○ Guide to Reference in Business and Economics edited by Leonard and Soward (ALA Editions 2014)

Strategic Goals Organizational Mission Statement Set goals from here. Objectives How are you going to get there? Goals will impact which services are selected, which programs to provide, and who the library’s community partners are.

Community Engagment Community partners are your eyes and ears! SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) Chambers of Commerce Small Business Development Centers Community Foundation (located regionally) Municipal Offices of Small Business Affairs Regional Commissions Industrial Authorities The Impact: Collection development Services delivered Professional development

Professional Development Events sponsored by Small Business Administration, SCORE, etc. Reference & User Services Association’s Business and Reference Services Section (BRASS) Business Librarian Online Conference (BLOC) Online training: SBDC, SCORE, SBA, Webjunction, ALA, Library Juice Academy Networking, of course!

Speaking of GALILEO… For professional enrichment, research, and practical tools: ABI/Inform, Business Source Complete, ConsumerEd, Hoover’s, Mergent, etc. Georgia specific: Georgia Secretary of State Business Search online Consumer data Industry Reports Market Research Business Plans

In Conclusion… Let’s share!

Any questions? Contact me! thanks! Any questions? Contact me! pricej@bibblib.org 478-744-0825

Credits SOURCES IMAGES Slide 3: Georgia Center for Nonprofits . (2012, April). The Economic Impact of Georgia’s Nonprofit Sector. Retrieved from https://www.gcn.org/sites/default/files/ctools/Economic%20Impact%20%282012%29.pdf Independent Sector. (2016). The Nonprofit Sector in Georgia. Retrieved from https://independentsector.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Georgia-1.pdf U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy. (2018). 2018 Small Business Profile: Georgia. Retrieved from https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/advocacy/2018-Small-Business-Profiles-GA.pdf Slide 6: Alvarez, B. (2016). Embedded business librarianship for the public librarian. Chicago : ALA Editions, an imprint of the American Library Association, 2016. Ross, C. (2013). Making sense of business reference : a guide for librarians and research professionals. Chicago : American Library Association, c2013, 2013. Sowards, S. W., & Leonard, E. (2014). Guide to reference in business and economics. Chicago : ALA Editions, an imprint of the American Library Association, 2014. IMAGES Slide 2: Logos: Foundation Center: http://network.foundationcenter.org/promote-and-sustain/downloadables-for-marketing/logos GALILEO: https://about.galileo.usg.edu/policies/galileo_logo_use_guidelines_and_style_guide_4.1 PINES: https://pines.georgialibraries.org/graphics ReferenceUSA: http://resource.referenceusa.com/marketing-and-training-materials/ -- Photographs: Middle Georgia Regional Library Business and Nonprofit Center, photos courtesy of MGRL staff Slide 3: Georgia logo: http://www.georgia.org/wp-content/themes/georgia/images/logo-250.png Slide 7-Goal image: https://pxhere.com/en/photo/481836 Slide 8- Bee image: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/community-engagement-what-universities-should-be Slide 9-GALILEO: Databases by Subject screen shot retrieved with login at http://www.galileo.usg.edu Presentation template and clip art by SlidesCarnival (www.slidescarnival.com). This template is free to use under Creative Commons Attribution license (https://www.slidescarnival.com/copyright-and-legal-information).