Small Business Resources

The Alpha Park Public Library now offers equipment, books, and DVDs for checkout to local businesses. This is an opportunity for local small business owners or those considering starting a business to access free tools and materials to help their businesses succeed. Contact the Information Desk for more details (309) 697-3822 x13.

Small Business Resources available at APL:

EQUIPMENT & TECHNOLOGY TO CHECK-OUT

    • Camcorder Accessories
    • Canson Paper Show
    • FM Transmitter for iPod/Playaway
    • Canson Paper Show
    • Galaxy Tab Pro
    • GoPro Camera
    • HD Camcorder
    • Headset with Microphone
    • iPad
    • Jedi Challenges Game
    • Kill-a-Watt power meter
    • Kindle eReader
    • Kindle Fire HDX
    • Kobo eReader
    • Laptop Computer
    • Lavalier Microphone
    • Mini Condenser Microphone
    • Mini Projector
    • Mirage 3D Camera
    • Multimedia Speakers
    • Overhead Projector
    • Playaway Patch Cable
    • Portable PA System
    • Portable Projector
    • Portable Screen
    • Slide Projector
    • Tripod
    • Virtual Reality Goggles
    • Wifi Hotspots

Training DVDs:

    • Workplace Bloodborne Pathogens
    • Workplace Bloodborne Pathogens & Healthcare
    • Safety Orientation
    • Preventing Sexual Harassment for Managers
    • Preventing Sexual Harassment for Employees

 

 

 

 

Business Books:

    • The complete idiot's guide to best practices for small business by Abudi, Gin.
    • Small business, big vision : lessons on how to dominate your market from self-made entrepreneurs who did it right by Toren, Adam
    • 201 great ideas for your small business by Jane Applegate
    • Business for Beginners by Frances McGuckin
    • QuickBooks 2011 : the official guide : for QuickBooks Pro Users by Leslie Capachietti
    • Home Business Tax Deductions : Keep What You Earn by Stephen Fishman
    • How to Write a Business Plan by Mike P. McKeever
    • 19 Ways to Survive : Small-Business Strategies for a Tough Economy by Lynn Spry
    • Legal Forms for Starting & Running a Small Business by Fred Steingold
    • Adobe Acrobat 9 How-To’s: 125 Essential Techniques


    County Business Grant 2014 -- eBooks Purchased:

    • The 5 Essential People Skills: How to Assert Yourself, Listen to Others, and Resolve Conflicts by Dale Carnegie Training
    • The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
    • 9 Elements of Family Business Success: A Proven Formula for Improving Leadership & Realtionships in Family Businesses by Allen Fishman
    • Anatomy of a Business Plan: The Step-by-Step Guide to Building a Business and Securing Your Company's Future by Linda Pinson
    • Attention! This Book Will Make You Money: How to Use Attention-Getting Online Marketing to Increase Your Revenue by Jim F. Kukral
    • Awaken the Giant Within: How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Destiny! by Tony Robbins
    • Awaken the Giant Within: How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical, & Financial Destiny (abridged) by Tony Robbins
    • Becoming a Successful Manager: Powerful Tools for Making a Smooth Transition to Managing a Team by J. Robert Parkinson, Gary Grossman
    • The Best of Guerrilla Marketing: The Remix by Jay Levinson, Jeannie Levinson
    • Change-Friendly Leadership: How to Transform Good Intentions Into Great Performance by Dr. Rodger Dean Duncan, Stephen M. R. Covey
    • Coach Wooden's Leadership Game Plan for Success: 12 Lessons for Extraordinary Performance and Personal Excellence by John Wooden, Steve Jamison
    • Conversations for Change: 12 Ways to Say it Right When it Matters Most by Shawn Kent Hayashi
    • Crucial Confrontations: Tools for Talking About Broken Promises, Violated Expectations, and Bad Behavior by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, et. al.
    • Dealing with the Tough Stuff: How to Achieve Results from Crucial Conversations by Darren Hill, Alison Hill, Sean Richardson
    • Developing the Leader Within You by John Maxwell
    • Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink
    • Duct Tape Marketing: The World's Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide by John Jantsch
    • Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time (unabridged) by Brian Tracy, Brian Tracy
    • Entrepreneur: How to Start an Online Business by Lucy Tobin
    • The Entrepreneurial Instinct: How Everyone Has the Innate Ability to Start a Successful Small Business by Monica Mehta
    • First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently by Marcus Buckingham, Curt W Coffman
    • Fodor's Walt Disney World with Kids 2015: with Universal Orlando, SeaWorld & Aquatica by Kim Wright Wiley
    • The Giants of Sales: What Dale Carnegie, John Patterson, Elmer Wheeler, and Joe Girard Can Teach You About Real Sales Success by Tom Sant
    • Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson
    • How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
    • The HR Answer Book: An Indispensable Guide for Managers and Human Resources Professionals by Shawn Smith Jd, Rebecca Mazin
    • It's Your Business: 183 Essential Tips that Will Transform Your Small Business by JJ Ramberg, Lisa Everson, Frank Silverstein
    • Keeping the Books: Basic Recordkeeping and Accounting for Small Business by Linda Pinson
    • Marketing Your Small Business For Dummies by Carolyn Tate
    • The Mobile Marketing Handbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Dynamic Mobile Marketing Campaigns by Kim Dushinski
    • The One Thing You Need to Know: ...About Great Managing, Great Leading, and Sustained Individual Success (abridged) by Marcus Buckingham
    • Pop!: Create the Perfect Pitch, Title, and Tagline for Anything by Sam Horn
    • The Small Business Bible: Everything You Need to Know to Succeed in Your Small Business by Steven D. Strauss
    • Small Business Marketing Kit For Dummies by Barbara Findlay Schenck
    • Small Business Taxes For Dummies by Eric Tyson
    • Small Move, Big Change: Using Microresolutions to Transform Your Life Permanently by Caroline L. Arnold
    • Social Marketology: Improve Your Social Media Processes and Get Customers to Stay Forever by Ric Dragon
    • Startup Guide to Guerrilla Marketing: A Simple Battle Plan for Boosting Profits by Jay Levinson, Jeannie Levinson
    • Steps to Small Business Start-Up: Everything You Need to Know to Turn Your Idea Into a Successful Business by Linda Pinson
    • Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
    • Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath, Dan Heath
    • Wooden on Leadership by John Wooden

     

    Business Audio Books:

      • Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t by Jim Collins
      • Networking With Millionaires by Thomas J. Stanley, Ph.D.
      • Ziglar on Selling: The Ultimate Handbook for the Complete Sales Professional by Zig Ziglar
      • On Managing by Mark H. McCormack

       

      Business Magazine:

    • Home Business Magazine

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      Local Small Business Agencies

    • Small Business Association (SBA) - an independent agency of the federal government to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns. Including loans, loan guarantees, contracts, counseling sessions and other forms of assistance to small businesses. SBA.gov
    • Turner Center for Entrepreneurship (Bradley University) - has the collective knowledge and resources to assist small or start-up businesses in creating a plan that minimizes risk and takes advantage of opportunities. https://www.bradley.edu/academic/colleges/fcba/centers/turner/

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      How can this equipment help you?

    • Create business plans with the software.
    • Develop a presentation to show off your business and products at meetings — The library also offers meeting room space.
    • Show informative/training videos to staff.
    • Use the software to develop sales and marketing plans.
    • Business books also offer a great deal of information and tips to help make your business a success.

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      Special thanks to the Small Business Administration, the Illinois State Library, and Peoria County for grants that allow us to make this equipment and technology available to our small business patrons.