PORT TOWNSEND — The Port Townsend Public Library will aim to be a resource for the unemployed by using funds from a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The organization awarded $47,500 to the library, said Theresa Rini Percy, library director.
“This will enable the library to increase our capacity to serve job seekers,” she said.
“We will increase our materials, training for staff, as well as be better able to help people access job search resources.”
With training, the staff will be better able to help people use resources to find new jobs and write resumes.
Pay for consultant
The money also will pay for a consultant to do more in-depth work and work with small groups on developing job search strategies.
Susan Kay Wilson is the consultant and will develop the workshops that will become a reality early next year.
The workshops — which will be scheduled and announced later this year — will include about six sessions that will offer help in job transitions and other areas to anyone on the North Olympic Peninsula who is unemployed.
The foundation said in a news release the grant — which was also given to 16 other libraries in Washington — was to help with unemployment, which statewide has increased 50 percent over last year.
“Public libraries in Washington state are lifelines to information, technology and human assistance for countless families — in good times and in bad,” said Jan Walsh, Washington state librarian.
“This grant will help local libraries significantly expand services like resume-writing classes or assistance with job searches, which are in higher demand when communities face a tough economic climate.”
Classes and materials
Wilson said the classes and materials will address the psychological and sociological impacts of unemployment in addition to the obvious economic impact.
She said she also had personal experience with unemployment, after being laid off from her last job.
“It all just happens so fast,” she said.
“You know that it can happen and you think that, but then when it does, it all happens so quickly.”
The library will also work to gather small support groups.
“One of the devastating things about unemployment is you lose all the contacts you had while employed,” she said.
“I worked 20 years helping in employment training, and we always would tell people that the best time to find a job is while you still have one.
Don’t always get choice
“Unfortunately, people don’t always get that choice, but these small groups can help them to build a network.
“Maybe you know someone who can help this person, and then they know someone to help someone else,” Wilson said.
In addition to the workshops, the library will be increasing other services, Rini Percy said.
“We’ll be beefing up our Web site as a great resource for people to go to to access job sources and information, and we’ll be establishing a dedicated work station area at the library to utilize all the resources,” she said.
“We’ll also be building up stronger partnerships with those that serve job seekers, including Jefferson Worksource, OlyCAP, the Port Townsend Chamber, as well as the Jefferson County Library.”
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladaily news.com.
