You may have seen the following article in Sunday's edition of The Item:
Library's SumterWorks Assists With Employment Issues
In the article, Ivy Moore states that 1 in 10 Sumter residents are unemployed. That is a large portion of the county population. In fact, the unemployment rate for Sumter County in December 2010 was 12.4%, higher than the state average of 10.7%. This is a staggering number. However, the Sumter County Library aims to help Sumter County residents learn the relevant skills needed to enter the workforce.
Thanks to a Library Services and Technology Act grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the South Carolina State Library, the Library has developed a workforce-development project entitled "SumterWorks". SumterWorks is a multi-faceted project designed to help Sumter residents be prepared to enter the workforce. The project features classes on the following subjects:
Resume Development
The Job Interview
Applying for Jobs Online
Setting Up An Email Account
With grant funds, the Library has purchased 4 new computers and an all-in-one printer for the public to use in our computer lab. Anyone may come into the lab during specified times and receive personal help in developing a resume or applying for jobs online.
All classes and lab times are located on the SumterWorks website:
http://www.sumtercountylibrary.org/sumterworks.html
The website features extensive local job listings, links to job search websites, online tutorials for resume development and computer skills and more.
In addition to our classes and lab hours the Library has purchased over 100 books related to career development and technology. Combined with our computer classes on relevant computer skills, the SumterWorks project is sure to help our community recover in this economic climate.
Ford Simmons
Reference and Information Services Coordinator
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Advocating for public libraries can be a difficult and frustrating experience. Often you are called upon to explain what the library does in just a few minutes with as few words as possible. You try and focus on the big ticket items such as early childhood literacy and providing computers, internet access, and staff help for those looking for employment or filing for benefits online. Yes, these are very important, but they are only a few parts of a very big picture.
That picture includes the library patron who watched as our bookmobile navigated icy roads and a library staff member hand delivered books to a community center. The patron was moved enough to write a letter to the editor of the Item. The picture includes a patron who sent a staff member an email of thanks for helping her with a problem she was having downloading onto her e-reader, thanking him for his kindness and patience. The picture includes a new resident to Sumter who writes that they “came to the library every day and utilized the internet in my job search. It was through this search that I found my first job in Sumter.” The picture includes a family struggling through tough times that come to the library for study space and computer access. The picture includes youngsters from day care and head start centers who come to the library and listen while someone reads them a story. The picture includes parents who could not afford to send their daughter to college and came to the library for information on financial aid and scholarships. They later wrote back to thank the staff member who helped them and to let us know their daughter had obtained a scholarship and was beginning her freshman classes. The picture includes the senior citizen who came to a computer class at the library, and said “I can’t wait to go home and tell my family what I learned today.”
We are often told to focus on the “big” picture, but many times the big picture is made up of many small pictures, each important and significant on its own.
So even though it can be difficult and frustrating, please advocate for support of the Sumter County Library. Libraries are important. They are part of the picture of every community. And every community would be a poorer place without them.
Robert Harden
Director
That picture includes the library patron who watched as our bookmobile navigated icy roads and a library staff member hand delivered books to a community center. The patron was moved enough to write a letter to the editor of the Item. The picture includes a patron who sent a staff member an email of thanks for helping her with a problem she was having downloading onto her e-reader, thanking him for his kindness and patience. The picture includes a new resident to Sumter who writes that they “came to the library every day and utilized the internet in my job search. It was through this search that I found my first job in Sumter.” The picture includes a family struggling through tough times that come to the library for study space and computer access. The picture includes youngsters from day care and head start centers who come to the library and listen while someone reads them a story. The picture includes parents who could not afford to send their daughter to college and came to the library for information on financial aid and scholarships. They later wrote back to thank the staff member who helped them and to let us know their daughter had obtained a scholarship and was beginning her freshman classes. The picture includes the senior citizen who came to a computer class at the library, and said “I can’t wait to go home and tell my family what I learned today.”
We are often told to focus on the “big” picture, but many times the big picture is made up of many small pictures, each important and significant on its own.
So even though it can be difficult and frustrating, please advocate for support of the Sumter County Library. Libraries are important. They are part of the picture of every community. And every community would be a poorer place without them.
Robert Harden
Director
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