California State Library, Sacramento, CA.
October 2, 2022 - Sacramento, Calif. – Interested in learning important skills like bookkeeping, data analytics, or project management? Need help preparing for a job-related exam in healthcare, IT, firefighting, or education? Maybe you already have the skills for the career of your dreams and just need to create a competitive resume, polish a cover letter or up your job interview skills?
That and more is waiting for you – at no cost – either online or in-person at your local library.
All that’s needed is a library card to access a suite of online workforce development tools that would cost $1,000 or more to subscribe to on your own.
The CAreer Pathways tools help Californians with job training, test preparation, and professional development in a variety of languages. Information about workforce development, upskilling, and literacy resources — as well as a directory of the public libraries that offer these resources — can be found at www.library.ca.gov/pathways
The California State Library is also collaborating with the California Labor & Workforce Development Agency, Employment Development Department, the California Department of Aging, as well as local workforce development boards, to ensure that Californians are aware of these high-quality workforce and upskilling resources, available for free through their local public libraries.
“Californians are getting back to work, and their libraries are here to help,” said Greg Lucas, California State Librarian. “Together, California’s public libraries are collaborating with other local partners to build a thriving California for All.”
In addition to the CAreer Pathways resources, many local libraries offer support for those seeking to improve their English skills and a program called Career Online High School that allows someone to earn a high school diploma online.
These CAreer Pathways workforce development and upskilling resources are just another way in which libraries aid in personal economic development, increase digital equity, and support the information needs of a 21st Century society.
A two-year investment of $10.2 million by Gov. Newsom allows these services to be offered for free to any Californian with a library card. The State Library is working with the Pacific Library Partnership to place the resources in any California library that wants them.
This project is supported in whole or in part by funding provided by the State of California and is administered by the California State Library.
About the State Library: Established in 1850, the California State Library is the central reference and research library for state government and the Legislature. The library collection includes more than 4 million titles, 6,000 maps, and 250,000 photographs, and includes an extensive collection of documents from and about the state’s rich history. Around the state, the State Library also serves California’s local libraries, providing more than $500 million state and federal funds to support public libraries and delivering statewide library programs and services.
State Library website
About the Pacific Library Partnership: The Pacific Library Partnership is a cooperative with 43 public and academic library jurisdictions, spanning the eight counties of the San Francisco Bay Area. The purpose of this regional system is to improve the services of its constituent member libraries by leading research and development efforts to ensure that libraries are best positioned to respond to demographic, economic, and cultural changes through innovative and collaborative approaches to programming and services and the enhancement of collective resource building and sharing. More information can be found at www.plpinfo.org.
Source: CA. State Library
