From left, projectY Manager and Project Coordinator Alice Holtzclaw, MainStreet Executive Director Jacquelyn Connolly and Senior Librarian for Community Engagement Eva Jacobson discuss ‘Libraries as Launchpads’ initiative Monday at projectY. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com
Starting a business is a daunting venture. There are so many decisions to make, things to consider and tasks to do. Luckily, there is a place to go that is the gold standard for supplying directions and answers; it’s the library.
Los Alamos County Public Library is teaming up with projectY to take part in the Creative Startup’s “Libraries as Launchpads” initiative. Libraries as Launchpads is a nationwide initiative that helps aspiring business owners determine if their idea is viable and identify the next steps in starting the business.
Its format is a hybrid of online and in-person. A virtual class will meet at 5 p.m. Mondays and an in-person meetup will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesdays at the Mesa Public Library. The initiative begins with a welcome meeting at 5 p.m. Oct. 11 and will run for six weeks, ending Nov. 13. Registration is open through Oct. 6.
projectY Manager and Project Coordinator Alice Holtzclaw explained the online portion will address a different lesson each week. It will connect locals to participants from across the country. The second weekly meeting, she said, will be solely for locals to meet and ask questions.
There isn’t a lot of structure from having an idea to formulating a business plan and the “Libraries as Launchpads” seeks to change that, Holtzclaw said.
“That gap is what this program is trying to fill,” she said.
Senior Librarian for Community Engagement Eva Jacobson agreed.
The first step is “to connect entrepreneurs with the resources we already have in the community, but we identified a need for the library to provide help with the earliest step on the entrepreneurial journey,” Jacobson said.
The initiative really does, in fact, serve as a launchpad, Holtzclaw said. It gives those wishing to start a business “a baby step” into the world of entrepreneurship.
For instance, completing the initiative could be a boost into entering the Los Alamos MainStreet and Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce’s Business Accelerator program.
“We had a unique opportunity to pull in MainStreet and the Chamber,” Jacobson added. “This is a unique extension of the business accelerator program.”
Having that gap filled between being inspired to have a business and being ready to take part in the accelerator program is exciting, MainStreet Executive Director Jacquelyn Connolly said.
“We were excited to see that gap being addressed,” she said. “We want to have people be prepared for the whole gamut.”
“We absolutely encourage people who have gone through the (Libraries as Launchpads) to apply for our program,” Connolly added.
The collaborations formed through “Libraries as Launchpads” could be described as a complex spiderweb considering how many there are: the web strand runs from the library system, to projectY to MainStreet and the Chamber of Commerce to the New Mexico Small Business Development Center in UNM-LA, which helps aspiring business owners connect with resources.
The web extends even further outside of town to Creative Startups, which is a nonprofit based in Santa Fe, that partners with the New Mexico State Library to create “Libraries as Launchpads”. Furthermore, the initiative received federal funding from the IMLS Laura Bush 21st Century Grant.
Jacobson said the local library is one of six libraries chosen nationwide to take part in the initiative.
She attributes the collaborations formed between Los Alamos Commerce and Development Corporation’s branches: projectY, Mainstreet and the Chamber to helping the library be selected for the initiative. Los Alamos may be much smaller than the other libraries in the nation-wide project, Jacobson said but it has the resources to make this initiative successful and specific to the local community. However, people do not need to be local to participate, it is open to everyone in the region.
To register, go to www.LosAlamosLibrary.org. For more information, contact Jacobson at eva.jacabson@lacnm.us or call 505.663.1812.
