Suit up
Library lends out clothing for job interviews
Most U.S. libraries provide much more than books: They have computers and printers, and some even have telescopes and microscopes for patrons to check out. Several lend American Girl dolls, allowing kids to check out the highly coveted and pricey toys for a few weeks at a time.
And starting last month, a New York library branch began experimenting with new offerings: neckties, bow ties, handbags and briefcases intended for people with limited resources who are heading for job interviews, auditions or any other event for which they need to dress up.
“They can use it for a school performance, or prom if they want a tie,” said young adult librarian Michelle Lee, who came up with the idea for the Riverside branch of the New York Public Library. “It doesn’t matter what size you are — anybody could use them.”
The concept came to her in 2016, when Lee was teaching a free class at the library about job seeking and resumé making. She told the high school students in attendance: “You want to look professional. You shouldn’t be bringing a backpack to a job interview.”
Their reaction surprised her.
“For a lot of them it was eyeopening, because they never thought about it,” Lee said. “One of the students said he didn’t have anything like that. The other kids were like, ‘I don’t have nice things.’”
She realized the students needed more than a resumé class.
“It got me thinking if the library could help,” she said.
So she drafted a proposal for the ties and handbags and submitted it to the library’s Innovation Project, a program that allows library staffers to suggest ideas and solutions to problems they come across, with a budget of about $3,000 or less each. After a submission period, the staff voted Lee’s project a winner.
With funding from the Charles H. Revson Foundation, which sponsors the Innovation Project, Lee bought 12 handbags and briefcases new from Amazon, priced from $40 to $120. The ties and pocket squares were donated — including by an employee at Bloomingdale’s.
So far, they ’ve had a few customers.
Panarat Imcharoen, 45, a native of Thailand, came into the Riverside branch in late August to take an English class. One afternoon, she noticed a large, black Kenneth Cole handbag and checked it out for her sister, Nongyao Imcharoen, 50, who is looking for a job and wants to move to New York.
“I was surprised; I didn’t know before you can borrow men’s and women’s bags,” Panarat said. “That’s a good idea if someone needs it.”