The
Orlando area has been booming this decade, led in part by
a $13.4 billion technology sector that employs 53,000 people.
But the region also has a technology deficit: Workforce surveys
show that the greatest challenge for employers is workers’
lack of basic and technical skills. Employers cite the need
for training opportunities for non-English speakers as another
major challenge.
When Workforce Central Florida (WCF), a state
agency, published its 2004 State of the Workforce Report,
the Orange County Library System (OCLS) saw an opportunity
to expand both its course offerings and its partnership with
the business community. OCLS already offered computer classes
and had worked with businesses to modify courses in office
software. OCLS also provided some classes in Spanish, to serve
the 22 percent of county residents who are Hispanic.
“The report led us to approach the WCF
and talk about training needs in the community and how we
could complement what they offer. It turned our focus from
offering computer training based on home use to expanding
our curriculum to concentrate on what today’s job seekers
and employers need,” said Jo Ann Sampson, Grow Your
Business project director and now the Special Services Department
Head at the OCLS Main Library.
“There were also a lot of people moving
into the area that were looking into starting their own small
businesses,” she added.
OCLS proposed the Grow Your Business project
to create new training classes and deliver them in multiple
ways in three languages: English, Spanish, and Haitian-Creole—the
latter to serve a growing Haitian-Creole population.
In 2006, IMLS awarded OCLS an $185,000 National
Leadership Grant for Libraries to help fund the project.
The Planning Stage
Grow Your Business provided two computer training
tracks: a Small Business Track for employers and small businesses;
and a Job Seekers Course Track for employees and job seekers.
Library staff devoted the first six months of
the project to planning and preparation. They had to develop
courses from scratch and prepare to deliver them in different
ways: as face-to-face classes, online tutorials, or—for
the first time at OCLS—live online classes.
To facilitate the multiple delivery methods,
OCLS purchased computers, software, and accessories, including
projection and sound equipment for all training classrooms
in the library system. The library also bought 108 new books
of interest to small businesses and job seekers.
OCLS also bought equipment to create a mobile
wireless computer lab, consisting of 12 laptops and one application
server with software, as well as an LCD projector and a wireless
printer. The equipment fit on a cart, which could be loaded
onto a van and taken to the 12 libraries that lacked training
rooms.
OCLS hired an academic consultant to review
its existing training curriculum and plans for new courses.
Fourteen half-day workshops were held for five staff to learn
instructional design and to create online tutorials.
Computer Training
The Computer Resource Center at the Main Library
developed a total of 20 in-person training classes: ten in
English, six translated into Spanish, and four into Haitian-Creole.
The library also created six online tutorials in English,
three in Spanish, and two in Haitian-Creole.
Eight classes—three in English, three
in Spanish, and two in Haitian-Creole—were adapted for
live online instruction.
The Job Seeker Course Track offered classes
such as resume writing, writing cover letters, finding a job,
and successful job interviewing, as well as desktop publishing
and Adobe Photoshop.
The Small Business Course Track featured classes
in starting a business, bookkeeping, and marketing. OCLS also
acquired a Web-based typing tutor program called TypingMaster
Online.
Both training tracks included software classes
in Microsoft Office, Intuit QuickBooks, and HTML.
Classes were free to Orange County residents
and $10 for nonresidents for in-person classes and $25 for
live online classes.
OCLS marketed the project through its Web site,
e-mail newsletters, and print ads in local newspapers. Library
staff also met with business owners and community leaders
and attended business outreach events. Workforce Central Florida
was a key partner.
Great Impact
Grow Your Business was a success, providing
services to 17,068 people from October 2006 to March 2008.
The 14 branch libraries and the Main Library delivered 3,325
class sessions. Some 11,763 people attended classes in person;
3,922 used online tutorials; 90 participated in live online
classes; and 512 used the online typing classes. A total of
1,660 people attended classes in Spanish, and 216 attended
classes in Haitian-Creole. The 108 new books circulated 681
times.
At first, the online courses were sparsely attended.
“It started off pretty slow, you know, with five, six
students—that was a few years ago—now today we
have an average of 20 to 21 students in our online classes.
And the economy is a big factor in that increase,” said
Ormilla Vengersammy, technology training manager at the OCLS
Main Library and head of its Computer Resource Center.
Feedback from project participants was positive.
Ninety-three percent (8,887) of those who responded to a class
survey said they gained new knowledge and skills. Also, 100
percent (43) of participants interviewed about the classes
given in Spanish or Haitian-Creole indicated that they learned
more effectively when training was offered in their native
language.
Another measure of success is the program’s
enduring popularity. People continued to pack the classes
after the grant ended. In 2008, a total of 43,000 people participated
in 13,000 class sessions.
Challenges and Lessons Learned
OCLS discovered it was something of a challenge
to get the business community to understand the quality of
training that the library can offer. “There was some
feeling by people that, well, if it’s free and it’s
the library, how good can it be? So we had to really work
to show them that, no, you can get a good-quality product
and that we really are dedicated to giving good training,”
explained Sampson.
One lesson learned was that it pays to think
outside of the box when it comes to community outreach. “Sometimes
you have to try some nontraditional ways of contacting or
getting into the community. We were doing things like going
to church leaders. We actually took our mobile lab to one
of the large Haitian-Creole churches in the county, to kind
of take our training to them, which seemed to be popular,”
said Sampson.
Another lesson concerned course scheduling.
Traditionally, a specific software class progressed through
various levels in consecutive weeks, but patrons asked if
all the levels could be given on the same day. OCLS now offers
an “Office Week” twice a month at its main location,
during which each day is devoted to one of the Microsoft Office
programs. For example, Monday would be Microsoft Word day,
and an employee could be sent for a full day of training in
Word, Levels 1–4.
Students said this change has made it more convenient
for them to leave work to get the training.
The Future
OCLS has continued to market its classes by
attending business expos, making contacts at a Spanish radio
station, and hosting open houses for the Haitian community.
In addition, OCLS has shared online interactive tutorials
and online classes in both English and Spanish with other
county libraries in Florida.
“There’s a lot that can be done
with computer training that isn’t necessarily just in
person in a classroom. There could be a real future for libraries
within the whole eLearning environment,” said Sampson.
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