The work of libraries can make a city a better place to live. This year, the United States Council of Mayors awarded City of West Palm Beach Mayor Jeri Muoio the City Livability Award based on the LSTA grant-funded Career Catalyst program created by the Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach.

The Conference of Mayors City Livability Program, sponsored by Waste Management, Inc., honors mayors and their city governments for developing programs that enhance the quality of life in urban areas.

The Career Catalyst program connected unemployed city residents with computer skills training and career development resources. It also established a partnership between the Palm Beach County Workforce Alliance and the library. This resulted in more awareness and access for the city's unemployed to the agency's services. Training for library staff was also provided from Workforce Alliance in order for them to better assist job-seekers in the library. The program continues through weekly workshops and has developed into an additional partnership with the West Palm Beach Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center that includes career and computer skills training as part of the experience for Veterans in the VA's Transitional Work Program.

More on the Career Catalyst program can be seen in the video  created for the award presentation. Information about the City Livability awards can be found through the United States Council of Mayors.

Library patrons looking for information on Medicaid, food stamps or other forms of assistance will now access a totally revamped website. The Department of Children and Families (DCF) has launched a new logo and website to make services more accessible to Florida residents.

Now called My Florida Families, the site stresses the importance of community and family strength and highlights the work the agency is doing across the state.

New features on the website include a map linking to multiple services and addresses where patrons can apply for assistance.

Library patrons can also sign up for automatic email and text alerts about specific programs.

Library patrons who have lost a job or want to change career paths can take advantage of education and training opportunities to help them build new skills.

The Department of Labor offers training programs through Career OneStop. The programs include short-term trainings, certification programs, apprenticeship opportunities and more.

There are also resources for professional development in current careers and ways for job-seeking patrons to update skills to be more marketable to employers. 

Many thanks to Janet Norton for contributing the article on the Career Catalyst program at the Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach.  Do you have a story to share? Send your article to Pam Thompson to be included in the next newsletter.

If your library participated in Money Smart Week @ Your Library financial literacy programming, please contact Pam Thompson at [email protected].

Do you have a shelter, food pantry or soup kitchen in your county?  Get Help Florida is requesting that Florida's librarians provide addresses, phone numbers and names of shelters and food assistance organizations their areas.  Please send this information to [email protected] and it will be added to Get Help Florida's Shelters and Food assistance pages.