University of Michigan (University of Michigan, Research Center for Group Dynamics)

The University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research, in partnership with the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) and the Public Library Association, will conduct a comprehensive study of Black History Month (BHM) programming in public libraries. The project team will operationalize previously identified core library programming competencies, explore the current state of BHM programming with a nationally representative sample of public libraries, build a model of BHM programming, create a BHM Programming Index, and develop a beta version of a toolkit for staff at public libraries. Following creation, refinement, and analysis of the national survey and Knowledge of the Community Scale, BCALA will develop, test, evaluate, and refine the toolkit. Beneficiaries of this project will include public libraries involved in programming and the communities they serve nationwide.