But most of them are too pricy for those contemplating starting a small business.

What many businesspeople overlook is that many of these resources are available for free, right there on the shelves or Web sites of their local libraries.

"Nobody uses library resources as well as they could — anywhere," Boulder City Library District Director Duncan McCoy said.

The Las Vegas Valley is home to at least four public library districts, and all of them have collections of business books and resources. The North Las Vegas Library District holds occasional small-business workshops. The Boulder City Library District has a collection in which businesspeople can research legal issues or county or city codes.

But libraries are rarely the first place people look when beginning research into starting a business, librarians and library directors across the valley said, which is a shame, since they're already paying for it. Libraries here are funded, at least in part, by property taxes. And they were designed as more than a place for children and scholars. They are often the best place to start researching any topic — from the best way to start a home-based business to the legal requirements for importing liquor.

"My feeling is that with the advent of the Internet, so many people go directly to the Internet in a lot of these instances instead of through us," said North Las Vegas Library District Assistant Director Kathy Pennell.

Libraries are increasingly taking that into consideration. The Henderson, Boulder City, North Las Vegas and Las Vegas-Clark County library districts all have informational Web sites. You can find them at www.bclibrary.org(Boulder City Library District); www.hdpl.org(Henderson Library District); www.ci.north-las-vegas.nv.us/Departments/Library/Library.cfm(North Las Vegas Library District); and www.lvccld.org(Las Vegas-Clark County Library District).

The Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, which has the largest budget of the four, has extensive online reference directories and several business-related online info guides, including some industry or business-type specific ones. And most of those resources are available to the general public, even without a library card(although it's encouraged).

"This info guide really is awesome in terms of making it very easy for somebody to get access to information from a variety of sources on a variety of different topics all in one handy dandy place," said Patricia Marvel, director of marketing and community relations for the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District.

And it's free.

You can't argue with that.

In other news:

• The North Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce is holding a women's forum roundtable discussion at 11:30 a.m. July 21 at the North Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce Conference Room at 3345 W. Craig Road, Suite B. The event is designed to allow chamber members to discuss marketing to female entrepreneurs. It is open only to chamber members and is free. For more information call 642-9595 or go to www.northlasvegaschamber.com.

• The Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce is holding a new member breakfast at 7 a.m. July 26 at the Hard Rock Cafe at 4475 Paradise Rd. For more information call 641-5822.

• The American Bar Association Center for Continuing Legal Education is hosting a teleconference July 27 on income tax implications of family limited partnerships. It is the first of a two-part series. For more information visit the Web site at www.abanet.org/cle.