Square One: Taking the Library to Entrepreneurs
Mid-Continent Public Library, Mo.
Innovation Synopsis
Square One Small Business Services support entrepreneurs in early stages of development—not by expecting them to come to us—but by taking library information to the community. By meeting the business community in its element, we’ve gone beyond raising awareness to connecting entrepreneurs to targeted information, programs, and opportunities.
Challenge/Opportunity
Mid-Continent Public Library discovered a significant discrepancy between the availability of online resources and business programs, and customer usage statistics. In addition to twenty high-quality business databases, the Library provides access to the Kansas City Business Journal, the Kansas City Star, and online classes through Universal Class and Gale Courses. However, given that there are over 100,000 small businesses in the MCPL service area, usage was quite low. Taking the issue to our resource partners, we found the problem was not limited to our Library system. The resources are there, but very few are using them.
Key Elements of Innovation
We treated our small business initiative like a start-up. By going into the community and asking entrepreneurs about their problems, we were able to assess ways to help them using the problem-solution model. What we found was small business owners don't have time to attend in-branch programming. From here, the solution seemed simple: we'd take our resources directly to the community. We used staff time to organize and maintain a One Million Cups Program. We also reached out to non-chamber affiliated groups and got right into the heart of community connection and collaboration with our involvement in Global Entrepreneurship Week.
Achieved Outcomes
In six short months, MCPL has achieved numerous goals, including building relationships within the business community. Through Square One, we've brought awareness of business resources and opportunities to the Metropolitan Kansas City area. Our first large scale effort to address the access problems with our databases and programming, garnered the attention of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation which resulted in a significant grant to bolster the Square Once Initiative. This award has allowed Square One to expand its reach and scope within the entrepreneurial community. In addition, through the Library's efforts, Kansas City North participated for the first time in Global Entrepreneurship Week; Smithville, MO hosted its own One Million Cups Live Streaming Event; and we've been invited to sit in on entrepreneurial celebration committees!
