Linda Hale probably knows every nook and cranny of the downtown Akron-Summit County Public Library.

Hale is the microbusiness specialist at the library’s new Microbusiness Center, which had a soft opening in February. She spent her first few months on the job learning about anything that a would-be entrepreneur might use: the business and government division, the technology center, the patent and trademark resource center, the audio and digital recording studios, copiers and machines, plus details about the myriad business-related workshops the library offers.

“(The library was) already reaching out to the community. (Director) David (Jennings) is working with the entrepreneurial community, so we’re doing pretty well,” Hale said of the center, which had a grand opening in April. “Now it’s a matter of bringing them in. And it’s a beautiful space to do it.”

The center’s mission is to provide co-working space as well as business training and educational resources to established business owners, entrepreneurs and students.

Hale, who started part time in November and came on board full time in January, brings a background rooted in small business and has strong ties to Akron’s entrepreneurial scene.

“My background is odd, so it never really comes off well on paper,” she said.

Diverse and wide-ranging might better describe Hale’s background. She moved to Northeast Ohio from Minnesota in 1988. In 1990, Hale, who had training in computer programming, marketing and advertising, began an ad-design firm with her husband. The company later morphed into a web-design operation. When Hale’s mother got ill, she cared for her and missed a couple of years of tech advances, so she decided to switch gears and get her real estate license.

After her mother passed away, Hale, still eager to expand her skills, earned a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies (philosophy, finance and entrepreneurial management) from the University of Akron.

When she saw the job posting for the microbusiness specialist, she jumped on it.

“I don’t think the library knew what they were looking for when they tried to do this,” she said, but her unique set of skills gives her ability to help both the established business owners and budding entrepreneurs using the center.

While not a business counselor, Hale see herself as a “director to the next step, and probably a bit of a cheerleader.”

Hale, who does not judge or rate the business ideas people bring, helps guide patrons to the information and tools they need. That information might come from the library’s vast resources or from other entrepreneurial groups.

Many nonprofit groups dip into the same funding vat, but because of its relationship with the library, the Microbusiness Center is unique, Hale said.

“We don’t have an agenda,” she said. “The library is going to be here 10 years from now whether is Microbusiness Center is or not. And I think that’s also important because sometimes everybody is vying for that same nonprofit money … Sometimes there’s a tendency to be worried about referring people to another agency, but from my perspective, I want to utilize every agency in town.”

And Hale, who is Akron chapter coordinator of SunDown RunDown and has been involved in the University of Akron’s Entrepreneur Immersion week, is connected enough to navigate the complex landscape of those agencies, whether it be reaching out to JumpStart, SCORE, OSC Tech Lab, the Akron Global Business Accelerator or the Ohio Small Business Development Center.