If you haven’t been to your local library in a while, you may not be aware of the plethora of resources available to help grow your business.  Many of those resources are online, and your library card is your gateway to many expensive databases….at no cost to you!

First….if you don’t have a card, you can find your local library’s website by visiting www.publiclibraries.com.  And, if you find your community library doesn’t offer the databases you’re seeking, you may find that the state level does indeed offer you access via their portal.  So, no more excuses…..it’s time to get your own card and max out the value of that bar code on the back!     What databases can you access with your card? 

ReferenceUSA enables you to search for business contacts within the industries or geographic regions of interest to you.  This database contains detailed information on more than 14 million US businesses, 210 million US residents, 855,000 US health care providers, 1.5 million Canadian businesses, and 12 million Canadian households.

American FactFinder:  Data pulled from local Census reports.

The Encyclopedia of Associations lists nationwide organizations you may want to target for networking events, education and speaking opportunities.  Here you may find many allied professionals for cross-referral business opportunities, too.  Simply search by key word and a complete nationwide list appears with full contact information and website links.  Via this website, you can see if there is a statewide affiliate that may be of interest to you.

Newspapers and Magazines are archived through EBSCOhost, Infotrac, and Proquest.  If you need to stay on top of certain industries or you’re about to embark on business expansion into another market, then relevant news articles are a must.
If the databases you access don’t pull together the information you’re seeking, a reference librarian is usually waiting to help you on-site.  Many libraries even provide you with the ability to engage a librarian in a live online chat and a full transcript of this chat will be emailed to you with answers to your questions.

Here in Somerset County, NJ, we are fortunate to have dedicated Business Librarians in many of our branches who are eager and ready to help any small business or nonprofit.  They want to be considered “Your Office On The Go”.  There are even free seminars planned throughout the year to help small businesses and nonprofits.

Recently, they’ve added a Small Business Reference Center and “Business Kits” in a box related to seven important topics:

·         Budgeting

·         Business Plans

·         Cyber Security

·         Leadership

·         Hiring/Firing

·         Marketing Plans

·         Social Media Marketing

Each box circulates for six weeks and they’re full of content carefully curated by the business librarians including books, magazines, and audio recordings.  If you can’t get to the library to pick up the box, they’ll even deliver it to your business.  WOW!!

I’ve pulled together just a sampling of what you’ll access with your library card and I highly encourage you to find those resources that can help you grow your business.  At a recent speaking engagement on this topic, one participant told me: “I had no idea that my dusty little library card was ‘gold'”!