Library district assists veterans

The Santa Clara County Library District is offering military veterans assistance with the transition to civilian life.

County libraries offer VetNow, a free online resource that provides veterans with access to job training, housing assistance and educational materials.

It is accessible remotely with a district library card and without a card at any county library, according to Lora Cokolat, the district’s electronic resources librarian.

Diane Roche, the district’s director of communications and marketing, said VetNow has four main components: Education, employment, housing and health care.

The educational aspect provides live tutoring for veterans looking to continue their schooling and test preparation materials and assistance filling out school applications. Career test prep materials are available should a veteran want to go into a profession that requires specific tests and certifications.

Veterans also can get help crafting résumès and coaching for interviews. Roche said VetNow can help guide users toward career paths that leverage their military training.

“There’s help translating military skills to skills employees are looking for,” Roche said.

Users can get help finding housing and healthcare resources.

While using VetNow, veterans can also speak with other veterans who have gone through similar experiences.

“Having someone who can talk to them is very helpful and relatable,” Roche said.

Each library has trained staff available to assist VetNow users.

Brainfuse, a live online tutoring company, provides the district with VetNow. It had been previously tested in the Los Angeles Public Library systems. Cokolat said Santa Clara County libraries began using VetNow in September.

“It was very successful in Los Angeles and then Brainfuse reached out to us to see if our district would be interested,” Cokolat said.

The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs estimates California has more than 1.7 million veterans.

The Santa Clara County Library District includes two bookmobiles, an online library, seven community libraries and one library branch serving nine cities and unincorporated parts of the Santa Clara County. In 2016 the library district had more than 270,000 cardholders and 3.3 million visitors, who borrowed 9.1 million items.