How can your library help you run a greener business? Or start a green business? Or wade through the morass of definitions and red tape that surrounds words like "sustainable," "green" and "organic"?

It's a question we in the Business Reference Department are asking ourselves lately here at Boulder Public Library. We want to be your educational hub for all things "green biz," just like Boulder as a city has become a hub for the world of organic, sustainable, green (insert your favorite synonym here) enterprises.

Part of our effort to achieve this involves just getting out more. Last month business Librarian Eladia Rivera stepped out of the stacks and attended a day of the Naturally Boulder Days conference. She's also attended the LOHAS conference. These events not only give us some networking time with local businesses and the agencies that help business here, but they also clue us in to resources that we might add to our growing collection. Despite the hype, the concept of sustainable businesses is new, and we're all learning.

To that end, we've assembled an online guide that includes local and national information that might come in handy for anyone hoping to color a business green. You can view it right now by going to our Web site at boulderlibrary.org, clicking on Reference/Databases (on the left) and then, from the "Research Guides by Subject" box, choosing Business & Investing. The "Green Business" tab is the second one on the page on which you'll land. (To go directly to it, go to http://tiny.cc/Khs8L.)

I've learned a lot about the issues - as well as the opportunities - for green businesses through our site. Some of these opportunities are local. Did you know, for example, that the city of Boulder, Hogan & Hartson and Cleantech Solutions have teamed up to offer a great program for business called 10 for Change? The program challenges participating businesses to reduce their energy consumption and helps them do it, while also offering perks like prizes and bimonthly breakfast meetings.

Other links on our site point to national programs and organizations. Want to get your business a seal of approval that sets it apart as truly socially and environmentally conscious? Consider becoming a "B Corporation," a certification that asserts you meet "comprehensive and transparent social and environmental standards."

How else can we help? The real experts in what green businesses need are those of you out in the trenches doing it. We'd love to hear from you about what resources we might provide for you, be they physical, virtual or personal. E-mail Eladia at riverae@boulderlibrary.org or me at the e-mail address below. Tell us how we can serve you.

Rev up your resume

Fall is just around the corner. At the Boulder Public Library that means we're starting to plan for our November Rev Up Your Resume event, which offers job seekers of all stripes free help with polishing that all-important document, the resume. This year's event is at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 7. We're looking for expert career counselors willing to volunteer for this effort. You'll sit down with several people in 15 to 20 minute chunks over the course of the morning. Contact me at the email address below if you are interested.

Business Research 101

Don't forget to mark your calendars for our next session of Business Research 101, our popular one-hour class that goes over the basics of using your library's resources for your business research. The next class is at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8, in the Arapahoe Conference Room on the main library's second floor. If you can't make that one, we're having it again on Nov. 12 and Dec. 10, same time, same place.

Terzah Becker is a reference specialist at the Boulder Public Library. Her column runs every other month in The Business Report. She welcomes comments and questions and can be reached by phone at 303-441-3194 or e-mail at beckert@bouldercolorado.gov.