About This Page
This web page highlights the latest developments from ULC's Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses action team, which is one of six member-led teams spearheading ULC's Going Forward from the Pandemic initiative.
This page receives ongoing updates. Please contact pnegron@urbanlibraries.org with questions or feedback.
Learn more about ULC's action teamsA Message from the Team
Economic development is top of mind for nearly every North American city and county. This was true even before COVID-19's devastating impact, which has disrupted industries, shuttered businesses and put millions of workers out of jobs.
As drivers of local innovation, job creation and economic resilience, entrepreneurs and small businesses must have deep support in order to help communities recover and move forward from the pandemic. Public libraries have an essential part to play in strengthening the local support network for entrepreneurs and small businesses, particularly for professionals from traditionally underserved backgrounds such as women, people of color, justice-involved citizens, immigrants and veterans.
Representing diverse perspectives from communities across North America, our team is dedicated to elevating the role of libraries as hubs for small business and entrepreneurial ecosystems. To achieve that goal, we are working together to build blueprints for activities, partnerships and success metrics that can help all libraries confidently own their critical role in supporting the equity and health of the local economy.
Current Guiding Questions
Unique Audiences
What target audiences of entrepreneurs and small businesses are libraries uniquely positioned to serve?
Where Data Fits In
How can libraries effectively find, collect and apply data to enhance and measure entrepreneur and business support?
Key Partners
How can community partners extend and reinforce the library's role as a hub for local business and entrepreneurship?
Meet the Team Members
Angela Brooks
St. Louis County Library
Small Business and Employment Resources Coordinator
Angela Brooks supports St. Louis County Library’s goals to be central in creating a foundation for small businesses and nonprofits and to change the entrepreneurial ecosystem to be more inclusive. She collaborates with community partners to support entrepreneurs who start, run and grow businesses, and assists job seekers to access resources to address career and employment needs while spreading awareness of free library services. Angela has a professional background that includes project management, teaching, career development, training and empowering people of all ages. Angela holds an M.A. in Education and a B.A. in Psychology and is a small business owner.
Jennifer Byrnes
Rochester Public Library
Business Insight Center Director - Central Library
Jennifer Byrnes is the director of the Business Insight Center at the Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County and also oversees the Carlson Center for Intellectual Property, a USPTO Patent and Trademark Resource Center. Her expertise is in start-ups, market research, and business outreach.
Amy Fisher
Mid-Continent Public Library
Information & Reader Services Manager
Amy Fisher is the information and reader services manager for the Mid-Continent Public Library. Amy was instrumental in launching the innovative Square One Small Business Services in 2014. Through this program, she works with chambers, EDCs and other resource partners to provide educational opportunities for small business owners and entrepreneurs in the library's service area. With 24 years of library experience under her belt, Amy has given presentations at MALA, MLA, PLA and the Missouri State Library. She holds a Master of Library Science from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Jennifer Gibson
St. Louis County Library
Reference Manager
Jennifer Gibson has been with St. Louis County Library since 2016. She leads a team of reference librarians who focus on collaborative outreach efforts and innovative methods to engage the community and assess the impact of research resources and services. Jennifer is dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs, especially those from marginalized and underserved populations, to increase equity and inclusion in the St. Louis business ecosystem. She is a 2011 American Library Association Spectrum Scholar and a 2011 Association of Research Libraries Initiative to Recruit a Diverse Workforce Scholar and an active participant in the Urban Libraries Council Strengthening Libraries as Entrepreneurial Hubs Cohort.
Lunden Gillespie
Prince George's County Memorial Library System
Central Area Manager
An alumna of Frostburg State University and Catholic University, Lunden Gillespie currently serves as the Central Area Manager of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System in Maryland. Passionate about community development, specifically workforce and small business development, she co-chairs the Maryland State Library Workforce and Business Development Workgroup which seeks to create a standard of service across libraries in the state of Maryland.
Xenia Hernández
Saint Paul Public Library
Library Community Services Coordinator
Xenia Hernández is a library community services coordinator at Saint Paul Public Library and oversees the Nicholson Workforce and Innovation Center. Her work is focused on partnership development and executing community-led workforce, business and digital literacy initiatives. She is co-chair of the systemwide WorkPLACE committee and sits on the Metro Public Libraries Jobs and Small Business interest group. Currently, she is the project manager for Career Labs, opening late July 2020 in partnership with Ramsey County and funded by the CARES Act. The Labs will connect jobseekers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic to necessary services and information.
Heather Jackson
Prince George's County Memorial Library System
Area Manager - West Area Branches
Heather Jackson is an area manager for the West Area Branches in the Prince George's County Memorial Library System. She is currently working on the IMLS sponsored KNEXT project focusing on data and information access for small businesses and entrepreneurs. She has interests in equity in information access, services for immigrants and refugees and community development.
Scott Kinney
Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library
CEO-Director
Scott Kinney is the CEO-director of the Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library located in Evansville, Ind. With more than 30 years in libraries, Kinney has previously served as director of Mobile Public Library in Mobile, Ala. and as director of the Sweetwater County Library System in Green River, Wyo. Kinney is passionate about public libraries and about his community, continually collaborating with his staff and those they serve to discover what the library means to them and exploring how he and the library continue supporting the community as it grows and thrives.
Mark Pond
Spokane Public Library
Business Research Librarian
Since 2006, Mark Pond has been the business research librarian with the Spokane Public Library. Prior to that, Mark worked in a similar capacity for the Seattle Public Library as well as the University of Washington Libraries. Mark has been instrumental in creating a strong partnership between the Spokane Public Library and the regional business ecosystem. Having curated a unique set of business research tools at spokanebusiness.org over the past decade, the library has been well positioned to play a strong supporting role in the Spokane region’s business response to COVID-19.
Leah Rucchetto
Toronto Public Library
Library Service Manager, North York Central Library Departments
Leah Rucchetto is a library service manager at the North York Central Library, a Research & Reference branch within the Toronto Public Library system. Leah is enthusiastic about the ways that libraries create resilient, connected and knowledgeable community members. Leah is a Co-Chair of the Small Business Services Committee, a committee that drives system-wide strategic work supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses. Leah’s past work includes leading the development of a library of things, programming for digital literacy and inclusion and creating and delivering staff training initiatives, all with the goal to provide targeted services to meet diverse community needs. Leah has a Master’s Certificate in Organizational Development and Change Management from Schulich School of Business, and a Master of Information degree from University of Toronto.
Hadiza Sa-Aadu
Kansas City Public Library
Small Business Engagement Specialist
Hadiza Sa-Aadu holds a Bachelor of Arts in economics and French from Emory University and an MBA with a specialization in data analytics from the University of Iowa. Her career has spanned marketing, sales and data analytics in both the public and private sectors.
Megan Sutherland
Prince George's County Memorial Library System
East Area Manager
Megan Sutherland manages operations at the Largo-Kettering, South Bowie, Upper Marlboro and County Correctional Center libraries. Through her involvement with the Maryland Library Association, Megan trains and mentors library workers from across the state on political advocacy. She is interested in best practices for communicating and engaging key stakeholders in the transformational workforce development work libraries are doing.
Mo Yang
Anythink Libraries
Studio Coordinator
Mo Yang is the Studio Coordinator at Anythink, supporting The Studio as a concept and at its physical spaces district-wide. He represents Anythink on national committees and trains and advises staff on Studio concepts and equipment.
Ken Zambos
Pima County Public Library
Workforce and Economic Development Manager
Ken Zambos is the workforce and economic development manager for Pima County Public Library. In this capacity, he creates strategic community partnerships and manages systemwide coordination and implementation of programming and services designed to assist entrepreneurs and small business owners interested in starting and growing successful businesses. He also oversees Career Online High School, GED programming, English Language Acquisition for Adults and career readiness services such as job assistance and digital literacy trainings.
Deep Dive Resources
More from ULC on Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses
Use the links below to learn more about how ULC and our members are elevating the role of libraries as key drivers for local entrepreneurs, small businesses and economic resilience.
From ULC's Website
- ULC's Closing the Entrepreneurship Gap: Tools for Libraries resource toolkit
- ULC's Strengthening Libraries as Entrepreneurial Hubs initiative
- ULC Leadership Brief: Strengthening Libraries as Entrepreneurial Hubs
- ULC white paper: Libraries, Trust and Social Capital
- ULC white paper: Libraries and Economic Opportunity
- ULC Innovations Initiative submissions
- Entries on the ULC blog
From ULC's Member Knowledge Exchange (🔒 ULC members only)
- Library resources
- Entrepreneur Academy - Enoch Pratt Free Library
- Entrepreneurs & Small Businesses - Los Angeles Public Library
- Entrepreneur Resources - Memphis Public Libraries
- Web Hub for Entrepreneurs - Richland Library
- Marketing entrepreneur services examples
- Business Assistance Action Card - Toledo Lucas County Public Library
- Ives Squared Outreach One Pager - New Haven Free Public Library
- Sample Work Plans
- Small Business Services Committee work plan - Toronto Public Library