Business Services
Your Library understands that the key to successful business management and healthy growth is convenient and swift access to the best resources. We provide reference services and library resources to help Charlotte-Mecklenburg area businesses succeed.
Local Business Resources
Library Resource Spotlight: MasterFILE Premier
MasterFILE Premier
A database of full-text magazines, journals, and reference books, as well as photo, map, and flag files dating back to 1917. Titles include popular magazines like Consumer Reports, Car and Driver, Country Living, Elle, Essence, Good Housekeeping, Harper’s Bazaar, and Popular Mechanics alongside an expansive list of scholarly and trade publications.
Register for a Business Research 1-on-1
Upcoming Business Services Events
Does your business need:
- Lists of companies in your target market?
- Lists of competitors in your geographic area?
- Names of executives to contact?
- Demographic statistics, trends, and maps?
- Industry data from nearby and from around the world?
- Content for your webpage, tweets, or newsletter?
- Classes on using technology to increase productivity?
Your library has all this and more. Find more information in the Business Resources: Starting a Business LibGuide
Additionally, your library has spaces to meet and work. Meet informally at one of the 20 locations across the county or rent a room for a larger meeting. Your local branch has all the basics - free wifi, Internet and computer access, and Microsoft Office products.
Not sure where to start? Ask to speak with a Librarian at one of our 20 libraries around Mecklenburg County.
Government Documents Resources
Statistics, reports, and other information published by the government, which can be found through through various websites, can be used to support your business research. GovInfo is a one-stop shop for accessing published, official U.S. Government information online. The Census Bureau provides demographic information to tell you more about potential customers and competitors. The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides information on employment, labor, and trends in over 100 industries. Below, we've highlighted some resources related to upcoming events.
What is DiscoverGov?
DiscoverGov provides simple, one-stop searching across multiple U.S. Federal government databases including GPO's Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP) and GovInfo.
It will retrieve reports, articles, and citations while providing direct links to selected resources and publications available online.
April is Arab American Heritage Month Americans of Arab heritage have advanced the nation’s achievements in diplomacy, science, technology, as well as in art and culture.
In 1962, Dr. Alixa Naff set out to tell the story of Arab American immigrants from Syria and Lebanon. In addition to investigating an area that had received little scholarly attention, her use of oral history as the basis of the research was innovative. In 1984, Naff donated her collection including the oral histories, archival materials, and artifacts to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. You can read about her in "Voices from the past: Arab American Oral Histories" and explore items from her collection and others related to Arab American history and culture from across the Smithsonian.
Image: [George Elicas Doumar using waffle cone making machine: black-and-white glass plate negative.] Image Credit
International Worker's Day, also known as May Day, is the traditional day that most countries celebrate laborers and contributions of the working class. May Day can trace its origins to the mid-1880s when workers worldwide were demanding an eight-hour workday. In America, the date was chosen by the American Federation of Labor to continue their campaign for the eight-hour work day and to commemorate the Haymarket affair.
Source: International Worker's Day and the Female Workforce
Image (left): Banner from the National Archives News - Labor Day page
May is Asian / Pacific American Heritage Month
The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of Asian and Pacific Islanders who have enriched America's history and are instrumental in its future success.