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In today’s world, it’s not enough to hire a diverse group of people – to attract and retain high-caliber employees, business owners must work to foster an environment where every member of the team feels welcome and safe. For business owners, a simple library card can unlock an abundance of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion training materials to help create workplaces where employees want to stay and flourish in their fields.
The East Baton Rouge Parish Library offers numerous DEI courses online, and library staff can also help to customize the training for any company. All library programs and services are offered for free with a library card.
The library has partnered with LinkedIn to offer LinkedIn Learning DEI courses, with topics like Fair and Effective Interviewing for Diversity and Inclusion and Rolling Out a Diversity and Inclusion Training Program in Your Company. The other main source of online courses is Gale Presents: Udemy, which offers such courses as Ally Up: How to Build and Activate Ally Partnerships. DEI resources offered by the library can be found here.
Library Assistant Director Mary Stein recognizes the challenge facing business owners: it’s becoming more difficult to find qualified employees, and once you have them, you want to keep them and develop them and not continuously be in hiring and training mode. “It affects your bottom line,” she says. “I’m a better business if my employees are happier and better skilled and stay longer.”
Meanwhile, employees want to feel accepted and valued and feel that they have opportunities for advancement. “Developing a workplace culture of DEI can be an important factor for meeting everyone’s needs,” she says.
Small Business Services
In addition to its DEI training materials, the EBRPL has a Small Business Services department that gives business owners access to free in-person consultations and online resources. The department’s mission is to ensure that underrepresented business owners – small business owners, minority-owned businesses and businesses that aren’t necessarily making headlines – have resources geared toward them. The library’s Small Business InfoGuide is available here.
Job seekers
For residents seeking employment, the EBRPL Career Center offers one-on-one career coaching by appointment, as well as online access to blogs, seminars and videos to help with a successful job search. Examples include developing a job search strategy, support in completing online applications, assistance in writing customized professional resumes, cover letters, and LinkedIn profiles, and mock interview prep. The library’s Career Center also offers workspaces with access to computers, as well as private rooms with laptops for online interviews. The library’s Career Center has numerous videos online available on the center’s own YouTube page.
