Beyond books: How a public library in Ohio’s Rust Belt is spurring economic growth

Marsha Hill feels like she’s been coming to the public library for a hundred years. She came with her kids when they were young. Later, she came for computer help.

Now at 66, she’s discovered yet another reason to love the library. She’s one of thousands of Toledo-area residents making use of the free services the library offers to entrepreneurs like herself. She’s been coming in weekly, sometimes twice weekly, for help scaling up her nonprofit focused on children's health.

“Everybody knows me,” she says with a smile.

Gone are the days when the public library was just about books. Today, it’s where people go to use the internet, get legal advice and pick up COVID tests.

And now, there's a movement among public libraries to become hubs of entrepreneurship.

A dedicated space for entrepreneurs

Back in 2018, Toledo was one of 12 public library systems awarded grants through the Urban Libraries Council to explore ways to engage entrepreneurs in their communities, particularly people of color, women, immigrants and veterans.

Six years later, the Toledo Lucas County Public Library is leading the way. This summer, the library officially opened its small business and nonprofit workspace.

Tucked in the basement of a stately 1940s art deco building, the brightly-lit room has flexible meeting spaces, cubicles and computers for anyone to use.

Librarians hold drop-in hours and take one-on-one appointments. They also hosts classes on topics like bookkeeping, grant writing and business plan development.

And it’s all free.

Linda Faye Lucas, a former business consultant, used to charge clients hundreds of dollars for this kind of work.

Now as a librarian, she says, 75 percent of the people she works with are women, many of them women of color.

“I’ve been able to do what I did for people that never would have been able to afford the services,” she says. “I have made some wonderful connections with business owners.”

Serving the public’s evolving needs

Allison Fiscus, adult services coordinator for the Toledo Lucas County Public Library, says paramount to library work is paying attention to what the public actually needs.

Five years ago, the small business and nonprofit team was just two librarians devoting a quarter of their time to this work. Responding to ever-increasing demand, the library now has three full-time business specialists.

The number of customer interactions — measured as people served through classes or one-on-one consultations — has nearly doubled since 2020, to more than 3,100 so far this year.

The rising enthusiasm is welcome news in Toledo, where manufacturing jobs, once a mainstay, have shrunk by 20 percent since the 1990s, and unemployment hovers above the national average.

In a city looking to evolve from its industrial past, Fiscus says the investment in the library’s business services is already proving to be taxpayer money well spent.

“Return on investment is big for us,” she says. “We want to make sure we’re maximizing everything that we put out.”

Growing her nonprofit at the library

Hill started her nonprofit, Families for Fitness, in 2011, while she was working full time at the Jeep plant in Toledo.

Inspired to tackle childhood obesity, Hill hired certified fitness trainers to run an afterschool program in the public schools, collaborating first with the Ohio State extension program and then with a local hospital system.

It’s been a labor of love, something she self-funded for years.

After retiring from her auto job in 2023, Hill started thinking about formalizing her operations and creating a board so she could seek outside funding.

But Families for Fitness had no digital presence. Hill doesn't even have a website.

Enter Zach Huber, a librarian who joined the team in 2019 after spending six years in the nonprofit world, wearing every hat — marketing, fundraising, programming.

Since the spring, he’s been putting those skills to use, working with Hill on what he calls “capacity building,” strengthening her nonprofit.

Together, they are building a website and setting up a profile on the nonprofit database GuideStar, with the goal of getting Hill to a place where she can apply for grants.

“We’re trying to make her competitive with all the other nonprofits that are in this community,” says Huber.

A leg up for the smallest of businesses

While there are economic development services in Toledo supporting larger enterprises, Lucas says the microbusinesses, the mom-and-pop shops, deserve support, too.

“Their value is important because they are a job creator, even if it is just their own job,” she says.

One woman she worked with started a gardening business. It now supports her life in retirement and pays for her travel to see her grown children in the off-season.

Another woman started a child care business out of her home, allowing her to care for up to six children, including a great-niece.

“Even the smallest business is going to help Toledo with raising up the whole community,” Lucas says.

At times, Lucas has tried to convince someone not to go into business. If someone doesn’t have the financial resources to launch, for example, she’ll be honest with them.

“A lot of times, it’s giving them that real information that nobody else wants to sit and talk to them about,” she says.

Real-world, real-time experience

Lindsay Williams, the newest addition to the library’s team, joined in 2023 after experiencing first hand how game-changing their assistance can be for a small business.

“What I think a lot of our entrepreneurs experience is a really exciting idea, and then they get into the nitty-gritty of it, and then they need some help,” she says. “Certainly, that was me.”

Williams had started a jewelry business, making hand-painted, hand-cut earrings. But in 2020, COVID shut down all the jewelry shows.

Williams, a self-described library super-user, was aware that the library offered free access to business databases that are behind paywalls.

With help from Huber and Lucas, she compiled a list of jewelry boutiques and sent out solicitations. Since then, she's grown her consignment boutique business by 40 percent.

Last year, when the library was looking to expand the small business and nonprofit team, Williams knew immediately she wanted in.

Now, she says, her real-world, real-time experience as an entrepreneur helps her help others.

“I am actively digitally marketing. I am actively reviewing consignment contracts. I am actively seeing how these things move and change and shape,” says Williams.

“I’m doing it right now, and I'm able to help them through that journey, too.”

New space draws new interest

With the opening of the new dedicated workspace this summer, the library’s team has seen a jump in interest from the public.

Some days, as many as a dozen people will come in seeking help. Classes are full and often have a waitlist. Over 100 people signed up for a recent session on grants.

“The need’s there. People want it,” says Huber.

Lucas, who wants everyone to feel welcome, insists no question is off limits.

“We will find an answer if we don't know the answer,” says Lucas. “I mean, we’re librarians. We know how to find information.”

Copyright 2024, NPR

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