Building Equity-Based Summers Initiative

Has the lasting impact of the pandemic had you reevaluating traditional services and programs? Does “equity” feel too big to tackle by yourself? Consider being a part of Building Equity-Based Summers (BEBS)! BEBS is an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grant-funded national initiative focused on assisting public library staff in gaining the skills necessary to work with systematically marginalized communities.

The NJ State Library is seeking five public libraries to participate in the second year of this three-year initiative. Each participating library will be represented by one staff member or a team of up to three people. Team members should have roles in summer services work and may be frontline staff, staff from other departments, supervisors, directors, or community partners outside the library. Each participating library will receive a $500 stipend.

Through training and co-design, participants will work to address the following questions:

• Do summer services demonstrate attention to equity?
• How are libraries determining how and if summer services are achieving equity goals?
• What impact are summer services having on those that need them most?

Participation in the BEBS initiative will require of all team members to:

• Attend eight 2-hour learning sessions with other NJ participants. The sessions will run from Fall 2023 – December 2023. Session dates and times will be agreed upon by NJ participants. Participants should plan to commit approximately 2-5 hours a month to BEBS work outside of the learning sessions.
• Participate in a monthly Community of Practice (CoP) from January 2024 – July 2025 with other states.

Libraries who would like to participate in this project are asked to contact Sharon Rawlins, Youth Services Specialist, NJ State Library, ...@njstatelib.org" style="color: #2199e8; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">sraw...@njstatelib.org, 609-278-2640 x116, by September, 8, 2023.

  All the best,