Consultant to study
libraries’ role in economy

The library system will use the
data in requests for funding

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By Treena Shapiro
tshapiro@starbulletin.com

The Hawaii State Public Library System has hired a consultant to study the value libraries have for businesses, economic development and tourism.

The $98,000 contract with New York-based consultant Joe Ryan goes into effect Aug. 1.

The library system will use the data from the study in requests for funding from the Legislature.

"Clearly, this is a way of getting the library's image and the services that we provide that a lot of people don't know about to our public and also to our potential funders," said state Librarian Virginia Lowell.

Job hunters can use libraries to research possible careers, look at job postings, learn how to write resumes and go for job interviews, Lowell said.

"They come to us and use the print and nonprint electronic resources at much lower costs or no costs," she said.

Often, people who have been laid off come in to look for new careers, Lowell said.

"It's probably not well known, but we have extensive collections on how to develop and start a small business," she said.

Sometimes laid-off manual laborers use the library to learn to read or increase their literary skills so they can find jobs or start businesses of their own, she said.

The study will be used to increase partnerships with other agencies, such as the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, the Chamber of Commerce and the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

One of the ways libraries can assist is by distributing information on how to support Hawaii's economy and tourism, Lowell said.