San Diego Public Library officials announced Tuesday they are teaming up Google to offer free career advancement courses for county residents wanting to improve their workforce skills.<\/p>\n
According to the library, people 13 and older with an active SDPL card may apply for access to the “Grow with Google” program.<\/p>\n
“With this launch, SDPL joins over 9,000 community organizations partnering with Google to help close the digital skills gap,” SDPL officials said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Google Career Certificates “are industry-recognized credentials that equip participants with job-ready skills in digital fields, including cybersecurity, data analytics, IT support and more,” library officials said.<\/p>\n
The program also offers Google Artificial Intelligence courses, including hands-on training from expert, according to the SDPL.<\/p>\n
“To date, over 1 million people have used these programs to train for higher-paying jobs, with over 70% of graduates reporting a positive career impact within six months of completion,” officials added.<\/p>\n
According to SDPL, certificate access is available on a first-come, first-served basis, and each license lasts six months.<\/p>\n
Should all available slots be filled, SDPL will start a waitlist for interested residents.<\/p>\n
Library Director Misty Jones said that digital skills “are a necessity in the modern workplace, and as a result, may become barriers to many job seekers.”<\/p>\n
The library system “is proud to partner with Google to remove barriers for San Diegans,” said Jones, who added the free certification program is “opening the door to life-changing opportunities.”<\/p>\n
City Mayor Todd Gloria said he was grateful to Google and the public library “for bringing these resources directly to our communities.”<\/p>\n
“Our libraries have always been places where San Diegans can learn, grow and find new opportunities, and this partnership builds on that mission for today’s economy,” Gloria said.<\/p>\n
The senior director of Grow with Google said her company “(wants) to make sure that the opportunities created by technology are available to everyone.”<\/p>\n
Amanda Brophy added that residents can learn at their own pace at city libraries and “build the skills they need to thrive.”<\/p>\n
Residents who receive a six-month license will “have the option to complete as many eligible courses and certificates as they wish,” according to SDPL.<\/p>\n
Courses are conducted online via the Coursera platform. According to SDPL, a person typically completes a certificate between three and six months by studying five to 10 hours per week.<\/p>\n
All city libraries offer computer and Internet access with printing services, and WiFi hotspots. Laptops are available for checkout through the SDAccess4All program.<\/p>\n
The library system’s Digital Navigator Program also offers free assistance to help residents obtain a low-cost computer, sign up for affordable Internet service, improve digital skills and receive basic tech support.<\/p>\n
Residents wishing to apply for a Google certificate may do so at www.sandiego.gov\/public-library\/job- start?utm_source=website&utm_medium=social+media&utm_campaign=Google+Certificat es&utm_content=1#grow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"San Diego Public Library officials announced Tuesday they are teaming up Google to offer free career advancement courses…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":472062,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[74,76,75],"class_list":["post-472061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=472061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472061\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/472062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}