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• Kawanna Michelle Bright   The co-design sessions are a part of the IMLS-funded initiative, The Future of Youth Public Librarian Education, launched in 2020. In 2020/21 the project team completed an environmental scan, administered a survey, and conducted focus groups and listening sessions with practitioners, library administrators, LIS faculty, and out-of-school experts from across the country. Analysis of this data resulted in an understanding of the mindsets and skills currently required of public library youth services staff. The project's next phase is to work with twelve co-designers who represent a variety of perspectives including practitioners, library administrators, LIS faculty, and out-of-school experts from across the United States to co-design what a future-ready LIS youth services curriculum must encompass.
  In order to move this next phase forward, the project team will host three 90 minute co-design sessions and one three hour design sprint. These sessions will be led by Linda Braun and Juan Rubio. The co-design format will enable the project team to learn with invited co-designers and to better understand what a successful equity-based and community-based youth services curriculum needs to include.
  The co-design sessions will be held from 3:30 to 5PM Eastern on Sundays:
  March 6March 20April 2
  The Design Sprint will be held on Sunday, April 24. (The time of the three hour Design Sprint will be determined via a survey of participating co-designers.)   2021