Project Ready Cohort Call

Beginning the end of March, CLEL will be facilitating small study groups of youth services staff interested in reimagining equity and access using the Project READY curriculum. This will be a year long learning opportunity, with a mix of biweekly small group discussions, occasional large cohort meetings, and asynchronous work; all taking place virtually between March 2021 and February 2022.

The CLEL Steering Committee is launching this Project READY cohort to support the interest in EDISJ (Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice) from our member survey and CLEL’s mission to strengthen all children’s pathway to literacy.

Project READY: Reimagining Equity & Access for Diverse Youth is a free, online professional development curriculum for school and public youth services librarians, library administrators, and others interested in improving their knowledge about race and racism, racial equity, and culturally sustaining pedagogy. The primary focus of the Project READY curriculum is on improving relationships with, services to, and resources for youth of color and Native youth.

Project READY is a self-paced curriculum and time commitment will vary based on personal learning styles and participation in extension activities. To better estimate your own time commitment, please see the estimate below and check out the ,schedule.

  • Working through the Project READY curriculum: 60-90 minutes per module
    • 2 weeks per module unless otherwise stated in schedule
  • Biweekly small group meetings: 1 hour; held on Zoom
  • All cohort meetings: 3 meetings throughout the year; 1 hour; held on Zoom

This first CLEL cohort will be made up of early literacy professionals from across CLEL’s membership, selected by Steering Committee members through an application process. Cohort members will be selected based on availability, depth and comprehensiveness of their answers to application questions, and with the goal of selecting members from a variety of libraries, organizations, and positions.

,Ready to apply? Applications are due Friday, March 19. Applicants will be notified of their acceptance by Tuesday, March 23 and the first all-cohort meeting will take place the week of March 28.

If you are interested in applying, but need more information, please join us for one of the following informational webinars hosted on Zoom:

  • Monday, March 1 4-4:30 pm
  • Wednesday, March 3 7-7:30 pm
  • Tuesday, March 9 9-9:30 am
  • Thursday, March 11 2-3:00 pm

To register and receive a webinar link, ,please fill out this form.

Have any questions or requests? Please contact info@clel.org.