Learn How to Serve Your Business Patrons

Does your library support local entrepreneurs and small business?  Do you feel intimidated when someone comes to the desk with a business query?  Are your business patrons aware of the free resources at their disposal?  The Reference & Information Services Division of the Ohio Library Council is sponsoring “Serving the Business Customer: Basic Business Reference Resources and Tools” on Wednesday, February 4 from 2:00-3:00.  This webinar will share tips on how to best serve your business customers.

Here’s what you will be offered during this webinar:

• A list and overview of free business reference resources;
• A list of business organizations from around the state for referrals and partnerships;
• Get ideas for how to connect with business customers inside and outside the library; and
• Learn about low and no cost staff development sources.

Attendees will receive one contact hour towards Ohio Public Librarian or Ohio Public Library Staff re-certification.  Join us on February 4 for this timely webinar!  Click here to register.

Resources for your community

As we head into the holiday season, remember that our communities often need help finding basic resources.  Things we take for granted like food, clothing, employment, and support are often difficult to find.  Librarians are often asked where to find assistance and it can be difficult to point patrons in the right direction.  We’re here to help!  There are plenty of resources available, so we’ll focus on a few key ones.

First Call 2-1-1, a joint venture of the United Way and AIRS (Alliance for Information and Referral Systems), is a terrific resource.  The Ohio 2-1-1 Community Resources page says, “2-1-1 is an easy to remember 3-digit dialing code, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days each year, which connects callers to a trained specialist.”  Callers can get assistance with Basic Needs (food, clothing, shelter, transport, utilities), mental health and substance abuse services, legal services, education, and income support among other services.

Food pantries are important any time of year, but they see a definite increase in activity around the holiday season.  There are several great resources for finding food pantries in your area.  FoodPantries.org is a very user-friendly site that breaks down pantries by state and city.  AmpleHarvest.org  is also user-friendly and provides a more exhaustive list of food pantries.  Simply enter your location and search within a radius of 15 to 100 miles.  Ample Harvest also provides an easy to use donation link and provides links for gardeners who are interested in donating surplus to food pantries.

There are several services you can use to find homeless shelters and other services for the homeless.  Homeless Service Directory provides a simple to use interface for finding your local homeless shelters and organizations providing services to the homeless.

These are just a few quality resources to help your community during the holiday season.  What sites have you found to help your patrons?