As Entrepreneurship Grows, Public Libraries Fill the Gap
With new businesses surging during the pandemic, many libraries have asserted themselves as key players in the economic development community.
The New Start Entrepreneurship Incubator in Gwinnett County Public Library in Georgia focuses on services for people who have recently left jail or prison.
Source: Gwinnett County Public Library
In late 2019, the Baltimore County Public Library team launched what would become the Entrepreneur Academy, an intensive seven-week course that walked aspiring entrepreneurs through each step of the business-building process — from ideation to marketing to bookkeeping.
The program was initially limited to 35 students who met weekly in person. But with more than 100 people on the waitlist, the staff offered a new course as soon as the first one ended. When classes went virtual in the fall of 2020, removing the limitations of physical space, some 200 people registered.