SMALL BUSINESS : Library Offers Free Newsletter, Services to Assist Companies

More than 200,000 people last year contacted the Newport Beach Public Library with questions regarding small businesses. The library mails its free quarterly newsletter about doing business in California to 1,200 subscribers.

All in all, the library is a handy--and free--resource for business people throughout Orange County. The library has a staff of researchers available to help people educate themselves about such topics as business financing, taxes, advertising and regulations.

Newport Beach has funded the newsletter and research staff since 1989. “The city has more than 9,000 businesses and 70,000 employees,” said Tom Johnson, assistant librarian and editor of the newsletter, called Wavelength. “There was a real need in our community for this sort of resource.”

The library offers books, magazines, newspapers, cassettes and videos to people considering starting a business and to those with established enterprises.

For more information, call (714) 644-3188.