Thank you to all who stopped by one of the Project Compass events at ALA! It was a busy weekend for all in New Orleans, so especially pleased to have shared so many of the new curriculum workbooks and other webjunction.org/workforce-resources at each of the events.

A special kudos to Bill Erbes, his director, Jill Rodriguez from the Bensenville Community Public Library District in Illinois, and Lindsey Wesson, Continuing Education Coordinator at the Tennessee State Library and Archives, for their fine work at the poster session Sunday afternoon. Here we are with the fantastic display Bill created!

As we chatted, Bill shared this great story of the Earlville Library (IL), who’s motto in these tough economic times is, “Heads up, shoulders back!”

Lindsey and I also set up a Project Compass table at the Learning Round Table Training Showcase. It was so busy I didn’t have time to take pictures, but look forward to seeing the video LearningRT superstar Maurice Coleman shot! There was lots of interest in the upcoming online workshop Libraries Supporting Small Business and Financial Health, kicking off on July 12 with a live online session, followed by 4 weeks of self-directed interactions facilitated by members of the Project Compass team. It’s not too late to register!

I wanted to thank folks again for nominating me as a Mover & Shaker. The gathering of newly minted M&S’s as well as alumni on Friday afternoon was a huge inspiration and included many librarians doing great work to support their community workforce development efforts. I had the great pleasure of sitting next to Jill Bourne who I worked with years ago at Seattle Public Library. She’s now deputy city librarian at San Francisco Public Library, our partners in another IMLS project, researching patron training tutorials. She shared that the project played a part in insuring successful funding for their library’s ongoing technology! Thanks to LJ’s Rebecca Miller for taking this nice photo.

I’m sorry if we missed you at ALA but look forward to hearing more about the great work your libraries are doing to support workforce development in your communities. Through Project Compass workshops and programs, libraries are learning new ways to:

• Bolster library-based services to the unemployed
• Develop programs to guide the struggling workforce
• Develop a network of peers to collaborate with to solve common problems
• Help community members better prepare for the future
• Move their communities from surviving to thriving.

Bring your stories, templates, resources, and ideas to the growing community on WebJunction’s Workforce Resources.