For those interested in a workforce literacy project for skilled immigrants to improve employment opportunities, please take a look at the program below. The cohort is being done through the Connecticut State Library and the Howard County Library System in MD, but it open to libraries around the country.

Karren Reish

Library Grants Coordinator

Library of Michigan

517-241-0021 / www.mi.gov/lsta

Sharing a wonderful opportunity offered by our partners at the Howard County Library System, MD. This project is open to any library serving a diverse community.

Would your library like to join Howard County Library System’s Pathways to Success: Professional Development for Skilled New Americans library cohort? Pathways to Success mitigates unemployment and underemployment by expanding services customized for skilled immigrants. The secondary goal of the program is to train other libraries to adapt this model (or parts thereof) to start their own program serving New Americans in their communities.

If your library is in a diverse community, Pathways to Success is an opportunity for you to improve services for that community. Howard County is an extremely diverse county. Over 20% of Howard County residents were born outside of the country (Institute for Immigration Research, 2022). Unfortunately, 40% of immigrants (vs. 29% of U.S.-born workers) still hold jobs that require mechanical skills and are not necessarily high-wage jobs (Bennett, 2020). Immigrants are still not attaining well-paying jobs at comparable rates to the native born, and limited English proficiency is correlated with lower wages (Bernstein & Vilter, 2018).

The four basic service levels of the Pathways to Success model are as follows: English classes, comprehensive English classes, job search & networking classes, and workforce preparation. Participants also meet 1:1 with instructors to focus on projects, resumes, interviews, job searches, and anything that is difficult to pursue in class. Desirable outcomes for participants include finding a well-paying job in their field of training or expertise, finding a job that is better than their current job, preparing to find a job, or preparing to return to postsecondary education or training.

Cohort libraries receive a $2,000 stipend.
Cohort libraries must:
Commit to the project for one year.
Have support to apply knowledge gained from the project in their own library.

Cohort libraries are expected to:

Complete the training from October 2023 through May 2024. Each member should plan on devoting about three hours a month to the project

Training includes:

Taking part in one 6-hour training to learn about the four service models
Attending a minimum of three advisory board meetings and participating in three intake interviews of skilled immigrants

Observing a minimum of three one-hour language and/or workforce preparation classes
Meeting with the Project Team bimonthly to draft and refine plans for local implementation of service models
Completing an evaluation questionnaire of the training at the conclusion of the project, and a follow-up survey 12 weeks after the training

Key Dates:

September 22 - deadline to apply
Week of September 25 - HCLS interviews library applicants
October 8 - libraries will be notified of acceptance

If you think your library would like to join our cohort, please complete the application below by

September 22:

https://forms.office.com/r/QgzfVs9Jsa

Please let me know if you have any questions,

Kindest regards

Dawn

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