| Sponsored by Gale and Library Journal |
“Public libraries are uniquely equipped to support entrepreneurship as a driver of local economic health and ensure equal access to the foundation of entrepreneurial success.”1
Learn How to Connect with Your Business Community
How can your library become an essential resource for budding entrepreneurs and established businesses alike? What are the best tried-and true-outreach activities and programming ideas? In what ways does supporting small business tie into your library’s mission?
This webcast will help fill in the blanks on these questions and many others. A panel of three highly experienced business librarians will share their own success stories to help you come away with a better understanding of how to reach and support local businesses.
Register for this event and you’ll also see a brief demonstration on how Gale Small Business Builder, a self-guided planning tool, can be integrated with many of the Gale small business products your library may currently offer.
Presenters include:
- Jennifer Gibson, reference manager, St. Louis County Library
- Elizabeth Malafi, Coordinator, Miller Business Center, Middle Country Public Library
- Mark Pond, business reference librarian, Spokane Public Library
- Angela Doolin, product manager, Gale, a Cengage Company
1Urban Libraries Council. Leadership Brief: Strengthening Libraries as Entrepreneurial Hubs. Retrieved from https://www.urbanlibraries.org/initiatives/strengthening-libraries-as-hubs-for-entrepreneurship.
Panelists
Jennifer Gibson, Reference Manager at St. Louis County Library
Jennifer is the manager of the Reference Department at St. Louis County Library, serving 860,000 individuals in a 460 square mile area. She is currently part of the Urban Libraries Council learning cohort that is developing methods and benchmarks for public libraries that are strengthening ties with their local entrepreneurial communities. She received her MLIS from San Jose State University after earning her JD at Pepperdine University School of Law. During graduate school she was an ALA Spectrum Scholar and ARL Diversity Scholar and is committed to professional diversity in libraries.
Elizabeth Malafi, Adult Services Librarian at Middle Country Public Library
Elizabeth Malafi is coord. of the Miller Business Center at the Middle Country Public Library in Centereach, NY. She is co-author of Small Business and the Public Library, published by ALA Editions and Supporting Local Businesses & Entrepreneurs in the Digital Age: The Public Librarian’s Toolkit, published by Libraries Unlimited. Both are guides for librarians to connect with their business communities. Elizabeth was awarded the BRASS Mergent Excellence in Business Librarianship Award (2017) & the BRASS D&B Public Librarian Support Award (2008).
Mark Pond, Business Reference Librarian at Spokane Public Library
Mark Pond has been the Business Research Librarian with the Spokane Public Library since 2006. During his tenure, he has led the effort to develop Spokane Public Library into a nationally recognized leader in the field of business research. In addition to his library work, Mark is actively involved with Greater Spokane, Inc. as well as the broader Spokane business community. He firmly believes that public libraries are destined to save the world. He received his MLIS from the University of Washington.
Angela Doolin, Product Manager at Gale, a Cengage Company
Angela Doolin is Gale’s product manager for public library resources centered on entrepreneurship. In addition to Gale Small Business Builder, her portfolio includes DemographicsNow, a data-rich tool for market and demographic research; and Small Business Resource Center, a multimedia database on small-business topics. She is also a dual-degree MBA and M.S. Strategic Management candidate. When she’s not working or studying, she enjoys cooking, reading for pleasure, and teaching her rescue beagle new tricks.
Moderator
Rebecca Jozwiak/Senior Webinar Program Manager/Library JournalGOLF NIKE SHOES