Ready NOW

Supporting youth and families during crisis

Ready NOW aims to enhance the capabilities of library staff to serve as proactive community partners before, during, and after times of crisis. This initiative builds upon a Field Guide, initially developed in 2020/2021, when libraries and their communities grappled with the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Field Guide serves as a practical resource for library staff to effectively engage with historically marginalized youth and families across a range of crisis situations, from pandemics and natural disasters to societal challenges like educational disparities and information inequality.

Our work will give library staff the opportunity to use the Field Guide with their communities, provide feedback, and help populate a repository of crisis related actionable responses. This will enable public libraries to more effectively support historically marginalized communities in proactive ways.

Photo by Julia Cameron on Pexels

Project goals

Implementation

Prepare staff to support communities, implementing the essential tasks

Repository

Develop examples of how staff can use the essential tasks in practice with their communities and neighborhoods

Mentorship

Train staff to become mentors of other library staff to provide support for those interested in implementing the essential tasks

The ReadyNow project is funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS Grant LG-254839-OLS-23).