Are you a budding entrepreneur, small business owner or looking to start or grow in your career? Then KBLIC is the place for you! Enjoy a space for networking and small business meetings. Use our print and electronic resources to research your industry, find customers, and better understand how to market your business. Put the power of the BPL to work for you, ask one of our skilled librarians to connect you with a local mentor or small business professional to help guide you to success.

KBLIC Small Business Advisors

• Schedule an appointment with a SCORE Boston volunteer for small business guidance.
• Get a free legal services consultation from a Goodwin Pro Bono Attorney
• Do you have a small business legal question? Book a 60-minute in-person timeslot with a pro bono lawyer from Foley Hoag LLP. Get help with your Business Entity Formation, Contracts, Funding, or Intellectual Property questions. Appointments are on the 2^nd Friday of the month from 11:00 am – 2:00 pm.
• Book time to connect with the Small Business Administration (SBA) to chat about its various programs and resources to help start, grow, and expand your business.

Online Resource Tools for Small Business Success:

• Review sample business plans with the Gale Virtual Reference Library and write your own with Gale's Plan Builder
• Find customers with AtoZdatabases
• Research your competitors and research industry trends with Mergent Intellect
• Analyze market demand and find demography data with DemographicsNow
• Find company and industry information as well as market analyses for emerging markets with EMIS Intelligence
• Find grants and fundraising resources with Foundation Directory Online Professional
• Create personalized legal documents specific to your business and location with LawDepot
• Check out our extensive collection of small business startup eBooks and audiobooks

KBLIC is here to help you learn how to manage your money, make sure you have enough saved for retirement, and invest it well.

Book a Bloomberg Session to learn more about investing.

Financial Education & Managing Your Money Action Plan:

• • KBLIC has teamed up with the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program to offer a free tax preparation drop-off service on Wednesdays, 5:00-7:00 pm.
  • Screen and find analysis on mutual funds with Morningstar Investment Research Center
  • Research companies and follow stock market data with our Bloomberg terminal
  • Find these resources and more in our Business Research Guides

Do you have an invention you’d like to patent, or a logo you want to find out how to trademark? Take advantage of the resources available to you from our Patent and Trademark Resource Center (PTRC). KBLIC is part of a nationwide network of public, state, and academic libraries designated by the United States Patent Office (USPTO) to support the public with trademark and patent assistance. Our space has trained staff to help guide you through the Intellectual Property process.

Resource Tools for Inventors’ Success:

• Get a free legal services consultation from a Goodwin Pro Bono Attorney
• Email us to book a 1-on-1 Patent & Trademark Reference Appointment
• Guidance on conducting a prior art search with the USPTO’s Patent Public Search
• Find these resources and more on our Intellectual Property Research Guide

KBLIC offers a suite of resources to help nonprofits and individuals find grant money for their projects.

Key Funding Your Project Resources:

• Search for grants from foundations with our Foundation Directory Online Resource
  • Search over 16,810,000 grants, 136,500 foundations, and 1,009,000 recipients
  • Use Foundation Maps to see funding opportunities visually.
  • Find scholarships, fellowships and awards for students, artists, and researchers with Grants to Individuals Online
  • Email us to schedule a concierge search
• Take a nonprofit essentials webinar training via LinkedIn Learning

View Candid's 2023 Nonprofit compensation Report from the Boston Public Library's Central Library at Copley Square. Benchmark with the latest data to establish appropriate compensation with the latest nonprofit salary trends you can trust.

Finding a job can seem overwhelming. KBLIC is your one-stop spot for job search success. Let us mentor you through the process.

• Book a one-on-one resume review with our Workforce Development Librarian
• Enroll in the Google Career Certificate Program to prepare for a career in cybersecurity, data analytics, digital marketing & e-commerce, project management and more!
• Explore occupations and prepare for job-related exams with our career preparation resources. 
• Take advantage of our video and webinar-based learning tools. From language learning, to creative software, to coding, our resources and workshops will keep your skills relevant in an ever changing workplace.
• Did you know that 9.8 million jobs require green tasks? The City of Boston is recruiting people to drastically increase the green workforce to reach sustainability goals. Whether you identify as blue-collar or white-collar, you can go green collar!