Google will work with the Warren County Public Library to address a need for computer skills that is becoming more necessary in many sectors of the local job market.

The Bob Kirby Branch at 175 Iron Skillet Court on Friday will host Grow With Google, a free workshop that offers the public a chance to improve their digital skills and meet with Google representatives.

“We’re very excited about the opportunity, about how Google recognized the Warren County community,” said Rob Hankins, the library’s communications coordinator.

Hankins said Grow With Google fits with the library’s goal of helping people find needed information and resources, which are often digital in nature.

“I really think that the overall goal of the library is to be an information source for people,” he said.

Grow with Google is free to attend, but people who are interested in the event should register in advance on the library’s website at warrenpl.org.

Grow With Google will be from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and will include sessions on how businesses can reach potential customers and clients online and how individuals can use Google tools to help with job searches.

Google hosts educational events aimed at teaching “middle skills” in every state, according to Google communications and public affairs manager Katherine Williams.

She described middle skills as abilities tied in with computer literacy, mainly involving how to effectively use the internet and basic programs such as Microsoft Word, Excel and Google offerings such as Sheets and Docs.

“Middle skills are kind of that gap that’s grown where you don’t necessarily need a degree, but you need a little more than a high school education,” she said.

A Google news release said 58 percent of Kentucky jobs rely on middle skills, although only 48 percent of workers in the state have the training needed for those jobs.

“We look to grow the number of workers in Kentucky who have those skills,” Williams said.

According to a separate release from Google, U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Bowling Green, and representatives of Land Shark Shredding will speak at the event at 11:30 a.m.

Grow With Google is a partnership between Google and the American Library Association, Williams said.

The Bob Kirby Branch is one of two Kentucky libraries chosen to host a Grow With Google event. The other was the Kenton County Public Library in Erlanger.