Providence Public Library was founded 145 years ago during a period that is now referred to as the Long Depression. Starting with the Panic of 1873, the resulting economic stagnation lasted for over two decades. Yet, it was during that difficult time that America saw great technological innovation. In fact, the internal combustion engine was patented the same year our library was founded. The next year Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone and, the year after that, the gramophone was invented.
It is in this tradition of finding innovation during difficult times, both then and today, that our library is looking toward the future. One way we’re doing this is by helping Providence small businesses adapt to the digital economy. Recently, the American Library Association selected PPL to pilot a new program designed just for this purpose: Libraries Build Business. Funded by a grant from Google.org, PPL’s “On-Ramp to Innovation” project will enable our library to significantly expand the services we offer to local businesses.
While many of the existing small-business support programs in Rhode Island target entrepreneurs who are more established, our project will target entrepreneurs in the aspirational stage and help provide the education and support structure necessary to put them on an “on ramp” and create the forward momentum needed to achieve long-term success.
Our project will target entrepreneurs in the aspirational stage.
Moreover, the downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented challenges for Providence small businesses, new and established alike. In particular, social-distancing measures have forced many businesses to enhance their presence online to keep their doors open. According to a recent report by the Connected Commerce Council, nearly a third of small-business owners say that without digital tools they would have had to close all or part of their business during the COVID-19 crisis. Seventy percent of small businesses say digital tools have been useful to them during the crisis.
Through the On-Ramp to Innovation program, PPL is prioritizing ways to help our neighborhood businesses make this transition. We will expand our programming with SCORE Rhode Island to include additional services, enhance our contextualized English as a Second Language and digital-literacy, business-oriented classes and supports, and we will designate a “business navigator” from our library staff to aid small businesses in the permitting process.
In addition, we will establish a student Business Corps comprised of ESL students who will partner with a University of Rhode Island researcher, postdoctoral or professor (as vetted by our contacts in URI’s Entrepreneurship & Innovation program) for a “customer discovery” process to visit local immigrant-owned businesses to survey their needs and to further inform PPL’s program design. At the end of this yearlong pilot program, we, along with 12 other participating libraries, will report our findings back to the ALA, who will then compile a playbook for libraries nationwide to use.
The internet has fundamentally changed the way we consume information. PPL’s mission is to inspire Rhode Islanders to be lifelong learners; expanding our role in the utilization of technology will enable us to continue to fulfill this mission. In many ways, this is a PPL tradition. Just as we were one of the first libraries to have an information desk, to create a collection dedicated to foreign-language literature, and to service blind individuals with materials in Braille, our On-Ramp to Innovation will continue our long tradition of finding new ways to help the Providence community step into the future.
Jack Martin is executive director of Providence Public Library.
