Toledo Lucas County Public Library (TLCPL) seized the opportunity of the main library’s temporary closing to launch a new mobile team charged with expanding the library’s capacity to help customers advance their entrepreneurial skills. TLCPL created the Economic Success Team to go beyond the library doors and work throughout the community to offer more one-to-one assistance in less-reached populations. This mobile staffing model broke the mold of how the library served their community, provided colleagues with new skills untethered from their traditional service desk, and produced remarkable results – a 265% increase in one-to-one research and technical assistance and a 188% jump in contacts with aspiring and active entrepreneurs.

Urban Libraries Council 2019 Innovation Winner • Workforce and Economic Development, Honorable Mention