IMLS-funded Building Equity Based Summers (BEBS) Initiative

Published on June 15, 2023

Building Equity-Based Summers is a national learning initiative focused on assisting public library staff in gaining the skills necessary to work with systematically marginalized communities as part of the summer services programming. Four main themes are being covered in the learning sessions: The WHY of summer; Letting Go of Tradition; Connecting With Community Voices and Measuring Impact and Success.

We are recruiting five public library teams with at least two people from that library on each team. Not all team members have to be a youth services staff. Team members from the same library can be an administrator, an administrator and a community partner, a front-line person and a community partner, or another variation. The team would be required to:

• Participate in learning sessions between September and December 2023 (Each participating library will receive a $500 stipend for their participation in the learning sessions).
• Participate in a monthly community of practice between January 2024 and July 2025.
• Work with the project team on iterating materials, including the BEBS Workbook, facilitation materials, and the BEBS website.
• Provide feedback to the project evaluator as requested.

For More Information

If your library is interested, please contact:

Sharon Rawlins
Youth Services Specialist, NJ State Library
srawlins@njstatelib.org

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This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed on this website do not necessarily represent those of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.