WIOA Reauthorization Must Recognize Libraries’ Workforce Development Potential
COMMENTARY
For years public libraries across the country have been reinventing themselves as indispensable community workforce and economic development engines, but perhaps too quietly.
It’s time to shout that libraries are becoming central hubs not only of knowledge, but of the resources needed to thrive in today’s rapidly evolving job market. And we must recognize libraries are poised to be indispensable partners in a reauthorized Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.
WIOA was landmark, strongly bipartisan legislation enacted in 2014 to help jobseekers get education, training, skills and support and to pair those candidates with the employers seeking skilled workers to stabilize and grow their businesses. It is overdue for reauthorization.
The House passed its version of the reauthorization, the Stronger Workforce for America Act, by a massively bipartisan margin of 378-26. It included a provision that would designate libraries as eligible to serve as one-stop workforce development centers. This provision is drawn from the Adult Education WORKS Act that Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Ga., introduced in the House and Sen. Jack Reed, D-RI., and Todd Young, R-Ind., introduced in the Senate.
To unlock public libraries’ full potential for jobseekers, the Senate reauthorization bill, which is expected to be marked up this summer by the Senate HELP Committee, should include the library one-stop workforce development center provision and support libraries’ role in supporting career pathways and career education. This is especially important as public libraries seek to reach target communities, including opportunity youth.
The problem WIOA was designed to address has only gotten more critical: too many Americans still lack access to the education, training and job search assistance they need to secure family sustaining employment in a rapidly changing environment. Whether workers are seeking resume-building support or adapting to the artificial intelligence era, public libraries are uniquely positioned to fill this gap as conveniently located, community-based institutions open to all.
In fact, from rural towns to urban centers, libraries already are stepping up in creative ways to serve as opportunity ladders.
In Las Vegas, Nevada, the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District has partnered with the local workforce board to open EmployNV Career Hubs at five branches to help patrons with skills assessment, financial aid, digital literacy and interview coaching among other employment services. Since 2017, these centers have helped thousands of locals enroll in job training programs and connected them to new employment opportunities.
In Indiana, the Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library actively collaborates with local organizations like the Indiana Department of Workforce Development and WorkOne Southwest to empower community members with essential job searching and training resources. The library also offers flexible, virtual learning courses that allow patrons to continue their education in a wide range of subjects. These programs have significantly enhanced employment opportunities for Evansville residents, contributing to local economic growth and individual career success.
Also in the Midwest, Square One is a hub for small business and jobseeker services throughout the Kansas City, Missouri, area library system. It offers regular classes and programs on how to start your own business, as well as one-on-one help with a business specialist. Over the past 10 years, Kansas City area public libraries have provided trainings for local entrepreneurs, including the review of business plans, access to business databases, social media strategies, information on funding and start-up capital and an emphasis on a broader understanding of local business ownership.
Despite these innovative efforts, most libraries lack dedicated funding for robust workforce and small business development programming.
By concretely embedding libraries into the national workforce development strategy, these provisions would dramatically increase the reach and accessibility of WIOA services for millions of Americans in underserved communities. For rural areas, libraries may be the only local provider, and for urban areas, branch libraries can reach people as close as possible to where they live.
With this federal investment, we can use libraries to expand economic mobility pathways from an early age through adulthood. With bipartisan backing, it’s an extremely cost-effective way to drive down unemployment, upskill workers and spark an era of inclusive growth.
By leveraging libraries’ local infrastructure and well-earned public trust, federal funding will go so much further in helping all Americans who want to be in the workforce to join it and stay there.
Strengthening this community lifeline will empower all Americans to write their own success stories worthy of a book in your local library.
Brooks Rainwater is the president and CEO of the Urban Libraries Council. He can be reached on LinkedIn.
