91´«Ã½

Access promotional tools through the Campaign for America’s Libraries website

CHICAGO – Posters, bookmarks and other free downloadable promotional tools from the New Jersey State Library’s “NJ works @ your library” initiative are now available for free download through the .

With a federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Broadband Technology Opportunity Program (BTOP) award, the state library developed “NJ works @ your library” to remind New Jersey job seekers that the public library is the place for the unemployed and underemployed to find the resources needed for landing a new job.

“The goal of our BTOP program was to help in the economic recovery of our state by enabling libraries to expand services to the unemployed and underemployed,” said Norma Blake, NJ state librarian. “Key areas included enhancing training opportunities, broadband capability and workstation availability in order to serve more than five million job seekers over the next three years.”

The initiative’s slogan, “It’s time… to land that new job,” was intended to set a positive tone and to position the library as a place that can empower job seekers with free resources like email, online job searches, access to online job applications and resume writing classes.

“Unemployment isn’t a situation that affects a select portion of the population. It affects us all,” said Nancy Dowd, marketing director for the New Jersey State Library. “The great thing about the NJ works @ your library initiative is that it focuses on the library as a place where everyone can go to find the tools they need to succeed in today’s economy.”

For the campaign art, the state library selected images that represent people and industries hit hardest by the economic downturn, including older Americans, recent college graduates and people in labor industries.

The state library uses advertising on billboards and public transportation to disseminate its message. The message is reinforced onsite in libraries with postcards, posters and bookmarks.

Librarians across the country are encouraged to download tools from the New Jersey campaign for local use. Materials have been rebranded with the new logo “USA works @ your library,” reflecting what libraries across the country are doing to meet the needs of job seekers. An action plan and webinar created by Dowd are also available.

The state library also hosts “New Jersey Works,” a website for the public with a variety of job seeking resources, small business information and a calendar of free classes through the state library’s partnership with the Community College Consortium for Workforce and Economic Development. The consortium is a statewide education and training service for businesses and industries. Through this partnership, the state library will host 800 free classes at libraries and community colleges throughout the state.

“We wanted to develop a campaign that would reach job seekers and tie the message back to the libraries. The @ your library brand helped us do just that,” said Dowd.

For more information on the “NJ works @ your library” campaign, visit .

The Campaign for America’s Libraries () is the 91´«Ã½’s public awareness campaign that promotes the value of libraries and librarians. Thousands of libraries of all types – across the country and around the globe - use the Campaign’s @ your library® brand. The Campaign is made possible by 91´«Ã½’s Library Champions, corporations and foundations.