By Linda W. Braun and Mega Subramaniam

Administrators need to make swift decisions based on immediate community needs, not what will look good to funders, mayors, and boards.

Identifying community needs is crucial in a crisis. Participants proposed some recommendations in this next stage of the COVID-19 Reimagining Youth Librarianship project.

Make equity about people, not stuff. Rethink library policy. More than 120 library staff have signed on to advance next steps in the COVID-19 Reimagining Youth Librarianship project, a crowdsourcing effort to create a framework for youth services during times of crisis.

In a new series of articles and virtual sessions, the authors will guide a conversation about the future of public libraries, culminating in a practical plan to reenvision youth services.