LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Katie Murtha, a librarian at the Bennett Martin branch downtown, fields the requests daily: Can you help me update my resume? Set up an email account? Look for a job?
She does what she can - in between answering phones, checking out books and helping customers find what they’re looking for - but there’s rarely enough time to devote the time such library patrons need, the Lincoln Journal Star (https://bit.ly/2sNGyZX ) reported.
“We can help get people get started, but there’s no time to sit down one-on-one for 1 1/2 or two hours,” she said.
Enter a group of retired teachers and other volunteers who spend about four hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Bennett Martin and Eiseley branches to help those who need the library computers to find a job.
They help people who lack the computer skills needed to apply for many jobs today; they help navigate the dizzying online sources advertising job openings, offer help with resumes and applications, and steer people to the good jobs they know exist.
The program, still in its infancy, is a part of the efforts by Prosper Lincoln’s Bryan Seck to connect people to jobs with decent pay, benefits and possibilities for advancement.
The most difficult employment issue in Lincoln, Seck said, is underemployment: People struggling to make ends meet with dead-end, low-paying part-time jobs.
“The real struggle is how do we move them over to a career pathway?” he said.
Seck is convinced good jobs are there - and part of the education process is getting people to understand a job at Burger King and an entry-level position at a hospital might have similar starting pay, but the latter has benefits and an opportunity to train for higher-paying jobs.
Prosper Lincoln has held several job fairs to introduce social service caseworkers to local employers who offer such opportunities, creating connections so the caseworkers can steer their clients to good job openings.
Seck has also worked to connect the human service agencies that work with people needing jobs - or better jobs - with the American Job Center, which offers free career assessment and help with the job search.
The fledgling program at the city libraries is an offshoot of that, Seck said, trying to come to those who need help.
The idea for library volunteers arose after Seck gave presentations on Prosper Lincoln’s efforts to librarians some months ago.
“We have people who work on computers all day long,” said Julie Beno, city library public service coordinator.
Seck thought of the retired teachers - he’d spoken to at least two groups that had said they wanted to help. So he called.
De Tonack, who spent her career as a teacher both in K-12 and college, sent out a request to the retired teachers and put a notice on a citywide volunteer website. Tonack’s neighbor, Kathi Tiede - a retired social worker with Nebraska Health and Human Services who had lots of experience working with those in poverty - also wanted to help.
Ultimately, six volunteers received a one-hour training session on the sorts of jobs available, the best sites to find those jobs and the different career pathways available - then they went to work.
Retired professor Christy Walloch has helped people from 17 to 68 years old.
A 17-year-old high school student still learning English needed help applying for a job at a retail store. Although he spoke English well, he was struggling with a 65-question survey. So Walloch helped him.
She helped a 68-year-old woman who wanted to apply for an AmeriCorps job but didn’t have the computer skills to do it. She helped a man with experience as a cook, who’d just arrived in town, apply for a job at a local hospital - and he got an interview that day, she said.
Many people who come to the library don’t have internet access and often lack the computer skills necessary to set up an email or the know-how to check it regularly, Beno said.
Tiede said she’d like to find a way to check back in with those they’ve helped to see if they found a job or need more assistance. She helped a man who had his commercial driver’s license but had had several personal setbacks. He’d gotten a job interview, but she doesn’t know if he found a job.
“I want to know if it makes a difference,” she said.
Tonack said they’d like to recruit more volunteers - and thinks people are hesitant because they don’t think they have the skills to help, but they do and will get training to give them more information.
They’ll keep tweaking the program, but Murtha hopes it continues.
“We find when people come in, they need help immediately,” she said. “So for us it’s been wonderful.”
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Information from: Lincoln Journal Star, https://www.journalstar.com
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