University of Washington

The University of Washington and the University of Maryland propose to scale the ConnectedLib Toolkit to support public librarians serving teens in small and rural libraries, and indirectly the young adult patrons who will benefit from the librarian's transformed practices. This project will provide continuing education opportunities to library staff in small and rural libraries on how to embed connected learning (CL) principles into teen programs and services. The project will tailor the content of the ConnectedLib Toolkit to also develop examples of connected learning projects for small and rural libraries that includes the voices of these library staff, launch a community of practice that will empower these staff to support each other in building capacity and skills to implement CL activities, and develop a new module for the Toolkit that focuses on youth civic engagement.