Business Matters

To get a business library card, please call 509.893.8400 for assistance.

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Spokane County Library District is your partner for success

Your Business Matters

Your business thrives because of stellar product and services. We’d like to support you with free resources to help you do what you do even better.

• Get help with your business plan
• Take online business classes
• Read business magazines and journals
• Get detailed company information
• Create market research reports
• Read product reviews
• Find demographic data
• Research market and site locations
• Create marketing mailing lists and sales leads
• And more

“The business education services are online, so it’s easy to get the training you want when you want it. I learned about business management and how to build my company’s website. Whenever I am stuck on a business topic, I get one-on-one help with the Book a Librarian service. The Library is a tremendous resource for business owners of any size.”

–Marcus Budig, Owner/Artist, Northwest Metal Works

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Office Amenities

When you need an office on the go, away from your desk or home office, think of the library. All ten District Libraries are ADA compliant, ensuring that you and your clients have access to all library resources.

Free Wi-Fi

Get online at our libraries (even in the parking lot).

Meeting Spaces

Reserve meeting space at a library, even outside of regular library hours, with online booking or by calling the library.

Printing, Copying, and Scanning

Print and copy up to 80 pages per week at no charge. Scan documents and images directly to a USB drive.

Computers with Business Software

Reserve a computer to work on your business projects and communicate with your team and clients. Our internet stations have standard Microsoft Office programs, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Publisher.

The Studio

This space may be closed for public use. Please call 509.893.8400 for assistance.

3D Printer

Check out our 3D printer at Spokane Valley Library. If you have a prototype idea, we’ll help you print it.

FIND YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY

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Book a Librarian

Book a Librarian is like meeting with a personal trainer or technology tutor. In a 30- to 45-minute session, we discuss the questions you have, whether about library services, technologies, or a business question. Then we match you up with available resources so you can achieve your objectives.

Let’s say you’re an entrepreneur looking for a location for your new specialty coffee shop. Our business librarians can help you use Data Axle Reference Solutions and DemographicsNow to map out where your competitors are located, where potential customers most frequently travel, and how they spend their discretionary income.

Can’t make it to the library? We’ll come to your workplace to answer questions and provide training and demonstrations to you and your staff. We’re everywhere you need to be in Spokane County.

Book a Librarian

“The business librarian taught me how to use the library’s digital resources, like ProQuest and DemographicsNow, for market research. When I had very specific industry-related questions, she helped me dig even deeper with research. Using that information I wrote a business plan that won the regional round of the Small Business Association’s InnovateHER Challenge competition, which was exciting.”

–Joni Kindwall-Moore, Owner
Snacktivist Foods

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Powerful Digital Resources

Whether you need to research your industry, create a market report or sharpen your Microsoft Office skills, we have the resources in our Digital Library to help.

“Over 90% of our clients use the Library’s resources to learn about potential markets for their small businesses. Many have also used the online training tools to help them with marketing and accounting.”

–Cara Weipert, Manager
Women’s Business Center at SNAP

Research Tools

Gale Business: DemomgraphicsNow

Create detailed demographic reports to produce business and residential lists, review consumer spending, and visualize market trends with mapping tools.

Data Axle Reference Solutions

Conduct market research and view competitor information with over 180 million residential listings and business directories.

ProQuest

Search articles from over 3,000 magazines, trade journals, newspapers, and industry profiles.

Business Source Complete

View business magazines, company information, case studies, industry profiles, SWOT analyses and market research reports.

Washington State Legal Forms

Access hundreds of Washington state and federal forms on topics like contracts, lease agreements, and loans, as well as partnership and incorporation agreements.

Foundation Directory Online (in-library use only at Cheney, North Spokane, and Spokane Valley Libraries)

Find grant-makers most likely to fund your nonprofit organization in this regularly updated database, comprised of more than 140,000 grant funding organizations.

Learning Tools

Gale Courses

Enroll in high-quality classes to learn about topics ranging from effective business writing to fundamentals of supervision and management to effective selling.

LinkedIn Learning (registered library card required)

Learn business and technology skills through online courses taught by industry experts on a wide range of topics, including small business marketing, Google Analytics, project management, and much more.

Downloadable Content

OverDrive (registered library card required)

Check out and download eBooks in ePub, Kindle and PDF formats and MP3 audiobooks, on diverse business topics.

hoopla (registered library card required)

Borrow popular movies, music, audiobooks and TV shows with instant streaming and automatic returns.

Flipster

Read digital copies of popular magazines, including Forbes, Newsweek and Entrepreneur.

Get Your Business Library Card

You can stop by any District Library to pick up and activate a business library card.

If you can’t make it to the library, call us and we’ll send you a card that provides immediate access to select digital resources. Cards need to be fully activated at one of our libraries to gain access to certain digital resources—including LinkedIn Learning, OverDrive and hoopla—and to check out library materials.

Get Your Business Library Card