The Toledo Lucas County Public Library system is part of a new effort to support entrepreneurs.

The program, organized through the Urban Libraries Council, provides grant funding from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation to local library systems. Those systems then develop strategies and work together to help members of underserved populations start their own businesses.

While venture capital firms and angel investors dump big bucks into the next big idea, those without access to those kinds of resources can struggle to get a foot in the door. The Toledo library system has long provided business support services, but now are looking for ways to increase those services, and bring them out of the library and into the community.

“I think the fundamental thing that we provide is we are an accessible, kind of non-threatening place to start,” said Jason Kucsma, deputy director for the library system.

In Toledo, the effort is focused on helping women and immigrants start businesses first, and will aim to help people of color and veterans. The library has had a business office for decades and provides one-to-one assistance from a business specialist; monthly attorney sessions to discuss patents, copyrights, and trademarks; small business resource days; databases, and more.

But that’s been done in a passive way, Mr. Kucsma said, with the library helping those who come through its doors. The goal is to start pushing those and additional services out into the community and to be more proactive.

According to the Urban Libraries Council, about 50 percent of workers will be considered independent contractors or freelancers by 2020, making small business skills paramount.

The impending closure of the downtown Main Library gives the system a chance to assess how it can better use its resources for business assistance, Mr. Kucsma said, as there are planned lab spaces for organizations and businesses as part of the renovations.

The downtown library is slated to close for roughly one year starting this weekend.

Over the next few months, library staff will speak with women and immigrants about what kind of entrepreneurial services they want from the library. For instance, Mr. Kucsma said, some Arabic-speaking community members have inquired about having some business resources be available in Arabic.

Each library involved in the project has their own approach. The Washington, D.C. system, for instance, is focused on supporting the formerly incarcerated to become entrepreneurs. The Toronto system is creating a “Newcomer Entrepreneur in Residence” program, to provide support to new Canadian residents.

First Published August 31, 2018, 11:15 a.m.