BUTLER– The American Library Association (ALA) announced that the Butler Area Public Library was selected to participate in Libraries Lead with Digital Skills, an initiative of ALA and the Public Library Association (PLA), sponsored by Grow with Google, the tech company’s economic opportunity initiative. Today, the library announces that this funding has been used to launch the new Professional Resource Center.

The Professional Resource Center is a set of tools to help job seekers, educators, business owners, entrepreneurs, and community members who want to help Butler grow.

“Because many businesses and organizations are relying so heavily on digital technology right now, it is the perfect time to provide a new set of resources for people to improve their digital skills,” said Margaret Hewitt, Special Collections Librarian.

The Professional Resource Center (PRC) is located on the library’s website, and the majority of the resource materials do not require a library card to access. The library plans to continue adding resources to the PRC, as well as library services and programs in the future.

“Libraries have long been America’s gathering place for learning. From learning new digital skills for the workplace, to creating a résumé  or growing your business online, people are going to libraries as resources for professional growth now more than ever,” said Nicky Rigg, program manager for Digital Skills outreach at Google. “Grow with Google is excited to support library programs across the country to help ensure
that economic opportunity exists for everyone.”

This program is funded by Libraries Lead with Digital Skills, which was created so that local libraries can combine their own program offerings with Grow with Google training materials to offer virtual community workshops or other activities aimed at empowering small businesses to grow online or assisting job seekers to prepare for and find work.

The Grow with Google initiative draws on Google’s 20-year history of building products, platforms, and services that help people and businesses grow. Through this initiative, we aim to help everyone across America – those who make up the workforce of today and those who will drive the workforce of tomorrow – access the best of Google’s training and tools to grow their skills, careers, and businesses. Learn more at grow.google or visit the PRC at butlerlibrary.info/PRC.