Open Lab is an opportunity to expand PCLS’s partnership with Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM), and presence at multiple on-base training locations, libraries and county-wide veterans' events. JBLM, the largest military installation on the West Coast, will transition 11,000 military personnel into the civilian sector as part of the Army’s drawdown, impacting soldiers and the local economy. Forty five thousand STEM jobs (which pay double other jobs) go unfilled in Pierce County or are filled by non-local applications due to a lack of qualified applicants.

PCLS offers technology training, network and database classes, extensive outreach into military organizations in the community, and free Microsoft Technology Associate certification to prepare soldiers for civilian jobs. Soldiers with MTA certification are eligible for further training and opportunities to intern with Microsoft. Library Staff have tech skills and military cultural competency. While the service is tech training for job success, Open Labs allows PCLS and JBLM to partner in new and deeper ways. PCLS is now an on-base presence at Stone Education Center, Hawks Transition Center, the VA, Camp Murray, JBLM libraries, and at county-wide veterans’ events.

Success in transitioning to civilian jobs positively affects the quality of life for soldiers and their families. For many this is their first library experience since childhood. Soldiers and military leadership are now aware of and value what the Library offers beyond job training. Over one thousand soldiers enrolled in the program, 468 earned Microsoft certifications and 900 library cards have been issued. Participants surveyed say Open Lab has positively impacted their future and career (60%); Programs like this one are important to the military (80%); More confident their skills will translate to the civilian workplace and to finding a job (60%).