Name: Lauren Courain Title: Business Services Librarian Organization: Johnson County Library Contact Information: 9875 W. 87th St. Overland Park, KS 66212 (913) 495-2465 www.jocobusiness.net
Lauren Courain has been with the Johnson County Library for only 18 months, but she already has made an impact. When she was hired, she made recommendations for a series of initiatives to improve the library’s services to people with disabilities and promote the Assistive Technology Lab at the Central Resource Library.
Part of her job as business services librarian is to provide strategic planning for future initiatives that serve small business owners, entrepreneurs, career-seekers and investors. She also focuses on providing career and business services to patrons.
“Right now, I am working on a proposal to enhance business services for a minority group in our community.”
Before joining the library, Courain gained a global perspective by working in London; Cork City, Ireland; and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. She received a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Carolina and earned masters’ degrees in education and library science from Virginia Commonwealth University and Catholic University in Washington, D.C.
In her current position, Courain acts as the liaison between the library and small business organizations. She provides community presentations and meets individually with entrepreneurs by appointment. She also promotes business services at various business networking events.
“Being a certified teacher, I feel comfortable speaking to both small and large groups,” she said. “My library science studies concentrated on how people seek information, the organizational structure of information systems and reference services.”
The library has resources to assist entrepreneurs on a variety of topics, such as company and industry information, investment and personal finance, careers and resume-writing, international business, marketing and demographics, economics and statistics, and tax information. Courain said that entrepreneurs can search for information on starting or expanding their business from the convenience of their home or office by accessing the business online databases linked to the Johnson County Library Web site (requires a library card and PIN).
Many of the business databases provide full-text articles from business journals and newspapers. Additionally, the library subscribes to databases that provide financial ratios, company histories and annual reports. Entrepreneurs also have the opportunity to learn more about these resources through regularly scheduled business tours and programs.
“It is exciting to work in a business community that offers so much support for entrepreneurs and small business owners,” Courain said.
She said the library has added a new means of contacting the reference department. Patrons can communicate with library staff through an online chat called “Answers Anytime,” through the library’s Web site. Answers Anytime is a live conversation between a patron and a library staff member. The patron types a question and sends it to library staff, and a staff member responds by sending a message and a Web page that might have the answer to the question. Library staff and the patron can view the same site simultaneously.
“They can then discuss the resource, sending messages back and forth,” Courain said.
This service is available 24 hours a day/seven days a week.
Courain said the Johnson County Library is ranked number two in the country in its size category, according to the Hennen’s American Public Library Ratings. These ratings are based on statistics gathered for circulation, staffing, materials, reference service and funding levels. The library has 13 locations, but for questions about business research materials, patrons should contact the Central Resource Library.
The Johnson County Library plans to further develop its international business resource, Courain said. Currently, the Kansas City metropolitan business community is positioning itself as an international trade corridor between Mexico and Canada. The library plans to provide international business resources to assist small businesses in making informed decisions.
“We want to provide resources to entrepreneurs about how to compete for international accounts, serve foreign customers and negotiate international contracts,” Courain said. “These days, all business is international.” Ellen Jensen is the managing editor of Kansas City Small Business Monthly magazine.
