This summer PPLD has the wonderful opportunity to participate in the Summer Work Experience Program through the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. This program was developed to give young adults ages 16-24 valuable work experience in high-demand fields. For many of the young adults participating in this program, this is their first job and their first opportunity to gain work experience. PPLD is offering 9 such summer positions throughout the district including opportunities in the Inter-Library Loan Department, in the Director's office, in the branches, the Circulation Department and in the East Teen Center with the Pikes Peak Workforce Center providing both the young adults and the funds. In the ETC we have 3 of these positions! Two of these positions require that the young adults work 20 hours each on the teen staff desk performing circulation duties, patron PC troubleshooting, video game troubleshooting and lots and lots of interaction with teenage patrons. These two positions are great opportunities for these young adults to learn customer service principles, keeping cool under pressure (for example, when we have 6 teens crowding around the desk all demanding your attention at once.), and computer and technology skills. And while these young adults are learning valuable skills and gaining work experience we are getting 40 hours of priceless help on the ETC staff desk! So far, we have filled one of the staff desk positions and the young adult is so quick, efficient, capable and confident that she has pretty much blown away all of the staff who have worked with her (and she's only been with us for a week!). I am getting nothing but tons of compliments and positive feedback. We hope to have the second of these positions filled by the end of next week.
The third position was developed for a specific young adult in her early twenties who has a learning disability. This will be her first job and while we didn't quite feel that she was ready for the demands of so many simultaneous personal interactions, we desperately wanted to help this young lady develop working skills and give her her first job experience. This position will help the ETC staff with clerical duties such as filing, organizing and keeping the ETC in working order. This position will also be responsible for opening the ETC every weekday morning. The fact that we were able to create a position on the spot that catered to the abilities of this young adult is a triumph of this program. The stimulus package has provided a specific amount of funds to be spent on this program and the Pikes Peak Workforce Center has plenty of young adults to fill positions. All we have to do is find or create positions for these young adults! We would never have been able to hire extra summertime help in the ETC without this Recovery Act. But this summer, thanks to the Recovery Act and the Work Experience Program, PPLD is getting the extra help it needs (without spending money we don't have) and these young adults are finding jobs, learning job skills and getting work experience. This program is most definitely a WIN!