The Monroe County Library System provides reference services and library resources to help Rochester-area businesses succeed. Member libraries contribute to the economic growth of our region by training expert staff, maintaining business materials, and providing public programs on economics, business, government, financial literacy, and career development.
Current business events and programs can be found here.
Regional business resources and websites recommended by the MCLS is here [PDF].
A list of business resources for veterans, compiled by staff of the Central Library’s Business Insight Center, can be found here.
Online Resources
The MCLS provides a number of business research databases available remotely for your convenience, requiring only your library card. These free resources include indexed, searchable company and industry profiles, market research, financial reports, regional demographic analysis, current news, and much more. Resources include:
Resources available at the Central Library of Rochester & Monroe County
The Business Insight Center of the Central Library offers extensive web-based market research and investment analysis subscriptions for public use, as well as print business journals. Specialized market research and financial investment data sources for use on-site include:
- ArcGIS Business Analyst: Evaluate potential business sites using map-based analytics. Generates reports on market potential, demographics, consumer spending and more. Reports must be requested from the Business Insight Center.
- ABI/INFORM Complete: Features thousands of full-text journals and periodicals such as The Economist, country-and industry-focused reports, with downloadable data.
- Frost & Sullivan 360°: Provides industry analysis, technology analysis and customer research. To see a complete list of industries covered click here.
- Hoover’s Company Profiles: Search more than 40,000 companies for information on a company’s location, financials, top competitors, top officers and more.
- IBISWorld Industry Research: Provides strategic insight and analysis on more than 1,000 U.S. industries. To see a complete list of industries covered click here.
- IBISWorld State Specific Research Reports: The reports in this add-on module complement their core US NAICS Industry collection and offer state-specific data, analysis and forecasts to help you understand industry trends at a more local level. This module is made possible by a donation from the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce.
- InnovationQ: Patent database with a natural language search engine that finds relevant prior art
- LivePlan: Easily write a business plan, secure funding, and get insights to help you reach your goals.
- Mergent: Maintains a comprehensive global company database, including institutional holdings, insider trading, FactSheets, debt ratings, and issuances.
- ProQuest Entrepreneurship: Search a spectrum of resources ranging from scholarly journals to sample business plans in a wide range of formats.
- Statista: Over 1,000,000 statistics on 80,000 topics from more than 22,500 sources
In-person assistance is also available in the areas of Business Plan Research, Market Plan Research, and Patents, Trademarks or Copyrights. Please click here to schedule an appointment.
Small Business Support
The Central Library maintains a Small Business Resource Center on the 4th floor of the Bausch & Lomb Public Library Building. The Center provides programs and an extensive collection of materials for starting and running a small business.
Tax Information
Did you know that the library can make your tax experience a little bit easier? Click here for a listing of resources you can use.